MANILA, 22 April 2006 — There are two things that have become glaring as far as Talk ‘N Text’s game is concerned.
First is the obvious transformation of the team into a defense-oriented squad, and the second is how rookie Mac Cardona has blossomed under a new coach.
Derrick Pumaren has done wonders for the Phone Pals, who won for the third straight time in the PBA Philippine Cup last night after bringing down Sta. Lucia, 98-90 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Cardona has sustained his emergence as a true offensive force in the league, shooting 16 points while stealing the ball a career-high five times in leading the Phone Pals to their fifth win in nine games.
John Ferriols and Jimmy Alapag also finished with 16 markers to share team honors with Cardona, the former La Salle standout who languished behind the team’s other stars when Joel Banal still called the shots.
The Realtors dropped to 2-7 overall, still in the cellar and getting deeper.
Pumaren has shown great confidence in Cardona, utilizing the 6-foot-2 swingman for 35 minutes last night and getting the same end result as far as the team is concerned.
Cardona is shooting at a 65% clip for the tournament, second-best in the league, while norming 13.9 points an outing in 27 minutes of average playing time.
Under Banal, Cardona saw action only for only 11 minutes a night and turned in only 4.1 points as the Phone Pals got eliminated by Air21 in the quarterfinals of the Fiesta Conference eventually won by Red Bull.
The Bulls, meanwhile, snapped out of a four-game losing streak after bringing down Barangay Ginebra, 83-68, in the second game.
Red Bull built a couple of 16-point leads early in the second half, lost steam early in the third period before finishing with a flurry to win for only the fourth time in nine games and get back into the thick of things.
Gnebra came charging back like crazy at the start of the second half, nearly overhauling the last of those 16-point deficits with a Jay-Jay Helterbrand triple making it 42-43 midway in the third. But the Bulls regained their wits, closing out the period a crippling 22-2 run that broke the Gin Kings’ collective backs and sent Ginebra reeling to its fifth loss also in nine outings. Warren Ybanez, Lordy Tugade, Mick Pennisi and Cyrus Baguio were on the floor when the Bulls dropped that bomb, and Ginebra was never able to recover from there.
Ybanez started out the fourth period with a running jumper of Helterbrand, shoving the Bulls to their bggest lead at 67-44 as Red Bull coasted along even with Mark Caguioa scoring the bulk of his 30 points in the fourth.
