Over at the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters’ bench, coach Chot Reyes was raising his arms in victory, acknowledging the support team management gave and those from the fans clad in bright yellow who occupied a third of a section of the jampacked Araneta Colizeum.
Once again, Talk ‘N Text is at the top, the best, and the finest of them all. After winning the Philippine Cup, the Tropang Texters demonstrated once more that their hunger for championships has not waned – and may never at all.
Shortly after rallying to beat a tough Ginebra squad in overtime Sunday night, 99-96, in Game 6, Reyes did not go around the bush trying to avoid the question everyone wanted answered: “Two down! Two down! Let’s get another one,” said Reyes at mid-court during the trophy presentation.
Right on the very first season when the three-conference format was reinstated, the Texters are now on the threshold of sweeping all the tournaments at stake in a single season 15 years after Alaska last accomplished it in 1996.
“Now that we’ve won the second conference, there’s only once jewel missing in the Triple Crown,” Reyes said. “Of course, we’ll go for that. It will be very difficult, but as what we’ve proven in this game, you cannot under-estimate the heart of this team. We’ll figure out how to make another championship run and, who knows?”
Besides Alaska, there were two other ball clubs that recorded a Grand Slam. The fabled Crispa Redmanizers first did it in 1976 under Virgilio ‘Baby’ Dalupan, Tommy Manotoc steered the same franchise to another Grand Slam in 1983 and San Miguel Beer conquered all conferences in 1989.
That objective, no matter how difficult it will be, will depend largely on how Talk ‘N Text will react the moment Jimmy Alapag, the PBA Press Corps’ co-Finals MVP along with Jason Castro, and Kelly Williams abandon the ball club to suit up for Smart-Gilas as it prepares for the FIBA-Asia Championships in China in September.
It will also depend on how good Talk ‘N Text’s import would be in the season-ending Governors’ Cup where the Texters are only allowed a 6-foot-2 reinforcement, the handicap they will have to follow for finishing No. 1 for the season’s first two conferences.
“We’re going for the Grand Slam because we want to win another one,” Reyes said. “I hope we stay humble and hungry enough to want another one. Our first order now of business is to get our rest. We still haven’t signed up our import, there are a couple of names we’re looking at. We still haven’t signed him up, we were too busy in this Finals. So that’s our priority and then try and figure out how to make another run.
“It’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be handicapping, and I think we’re going to lose two or three players to the national team.
So it’s really going to be difficult.”
Without any doubt, the Texters still crave for championships. The Commissioner’s Cup may have been the team’s first title in a tournament with imports, but they now see an opportunity to be regarded as one of the greatest franchises of all time if ever they do make it big once again in the Governors’ Cup that kicks off June 2.
As players and team officials flashed the No. 1 sign while celebratory champagne poured all over the dugout after Talk ‘N Text’s gripping victory over Ginebra in Game 6, Ali Peek described it best what it took for them to end up at the top.
“In order to be No. 1, you have to go through them (Ginebra Kings),” said Peek.
“Thank you Ginebra for giving us a tough fight,” Ricky Vargas, Talk ‘N Text’s representative to the Board, said.
Looking back, the championship series against Ginebra might have taught Talk ‘N Text a lot. Likewise, the best-of-seven showdown hardened the Texters’ character.
Talk ‘N Text was nine minutes away from being dragged to a pressure-filled Game 7, falling behind by as many as 81-66. Yet what looked like an imposing deficit only sparked the fighting spirit within the Texters, and the franchise that has not lost back-to-back games throughout the conference whirled back into contention by sending the game into extra time.
When Rob Labagala missed a point-blank shot in the waning seconds of regulation, Talk ‘N Text did not let the opportunity slip away.
Alapag, Castro, and Ranidel de Ocampo each knocked in three-point shots in extra time, and the man they also call the ‘Mighty Mouse’ added two free throws before the Kings blew their chances to send the match into a second extra period when Willie Miller committed a passing error intended for John Wilson as time expired.
“First of all, I really would like to say this — Ginebra came up with tremendous adjustments,” Reyes said. “Coach Jong Uichico came up with tremendous adjustments all throughout the series.”
Paul Harris, who will be credited as the first import to lead the Texters to a championship, picked up the ball and scooted downcourt, his one arm clutching the leather and the other raised in triumph as Talk ‘N Text recorded one of the most intense and thrilling climaxes in a title-clinching game in years.
But in the end, it was all about how Alapag and Castro carried the ball club when the chips were down.
“What a luxury to have two point guards who genuinely like playing together and can play well together,” said Reyes of Alapag and Castro.
“That’s one of the secrets to our success.”
