San Mig Coffee, Talk ‘N Text keep winning

Looks like San Mig Coffee’s James Mays wants to prove that first impressions don’t really last in the Philippine Basketball Association.
The much-hyped Mays, after a lethargic debut last week, scored 29 points that went with the same number of rebounds on Sunday night as the Mixers stayed unbeaten in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup following a 90-80 decision of Barangay Ginebra at the Araneta Coliseum.
“He’s just everywhere. His motor is really high,” San Mig coach Tim Cone said of Mays, one of the early birds in the tournament who was less than dominant in a scrambling win over Globalport last week.
“James is always there for us – to get the loose balls and the loose rebounds,” Cone said in praise of his import. “We didn’t see that in his first game, but we saw a lot of that tonight. He’s a real key in our win.
“We can really be competitive in this conference with him around,” Cone concluded.
Mays, though, didn’t do it alone as he got huge support from a star-studded local cast as San Mig won a second straight game while dealing the crowd-darling Gin Kings a second straight loss in a 1-2 card.
Ginebra was led by its import, Leon Rodgers, who had 35 points and 14 rebounds, but the Gin Kings struggled in the endgame as their local crew was effectively shut down by the San Mig defense anchored on, who else, Marc Pingris.
The win extended San Mig’s mastery of the Kings, whom the Mixers routed in Game 7 of the Philippine Cup Finals to eventually win the conference – also in seven games – over Rain or Shine.
The next best scorer for Ginebra was Japeth Aguilar with 12 points and starting point guard LA Tenorio with 11.
“It’s a real luxury having someone like Ping (Marc Pingris) and Rafi (Reavis) and Alex (Mallari) who are tall, lanky defenders. They are all versatile, so once one gets into foul trouble, we always have someone coming in,” Cone said.
Ginebra dragged the Mixers into 15 deadlocks and 10 lead changes, only to fail to keep in step with San Mig when Mays, rookies Ian Sangalang and Justin Melton and Reavis came up with a crippling tear that opened up an 89-78 lead.
Ginebra led by as many as seven in the first half.
Another side that stayed unbeaten to remain in the lead was Talk ‘N Text, who got huge lifts from Jason Castro and Larry Fonacier off the bench in a 101-96 victory over Barako Bull in the first game.
Castro, a vital cog in the Gilas Pilipinas program, finished with 25 points, while Fonacier, another national player, scored eight of his 16 in the payoff frame as the Tropang Texters improved to 4-0 overall.
Richard Howell was steady all night and KG Canaleta and Ranidel de Ocampo were also big as the Texters handed the Energy their third loss also in four matches.
Josh Dollard, after being unmasked on Friday by Air21, finished with 33 points to lead the Energy.
“It feels good to get to a good start, this being a very short conference,” Talk ‘N Text coach Norman Black said. “It’s really important to get ahead and not play catch up in the end.
“We struggled a bit in the first half because of their zone (defense), but we we executed a lot better in the second half.”
Fonacier drained a triple that made it 91-86 before De Ocampo bloated the bubble to seven after canning two charities off a loose ball foul from veteran Barako Bull center Micj Pennisi.
Howell had 23 points and 20 rebounds in 44 minutes for Black.
Meanwhile, Air21 hopes to sustain its winning form when it tangles with defending champion Alaska in the lone game slated Monday night also at the Big Dome in Cubao.