In a series deemed to be very close, Norman Black and Talk ‘N Text got the head start it wanted.
The Tropang Texters opened up huge leads early before holding off Rain or Shine in a wild endgame last night, pounding out an 87-81 victory for a 1-0 lead in their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven title series at the Araneta Coliseum.
Talk ‘N Text gave up the game’s first basket to Larry Rodriguez before clamping down hard defensively on the Elasto Painters, building a 33-15 lead early in the second period which proved a huge enough cushion for the run for home.
“I was very happy with the way we played defense today. We executed what we wanted to do defensively,” Black said. “This is where the fun begins for us coaches. I have to figure out what adjustments they will do (for Game 2).” The second game is scheduled tomorrow at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, and even if the Painters trailed big and bungled several chances to turn things around in the stretch, coach Yeng Guiao didn’t look at all disturbed.
“I’m still very confident and very positive about our chances. It’s just the first game,” Guiao told scribes moments after Black stepped out of the pressroom. “The stats, the numbers will indicate that we beat them in most departments other than our three-point shooting.
“They had six more three point shots than we did, and that’s 18 points.” Jason Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo had 16 points each and combined for five triples, with De Ocampo’s two conversions from afar coming at a crucial stage in the third quarter that opened up a 16-point bubble for the Texters.
The experienced Texters didn’t relax at any point despite being comfortably ahead, as if knowing that the Painters would be pushing hard all the way to the final buzzer.
Black acknowledges that fact and is bracing for a huge Rain or Shine effort tomorrow.
“You’re playing Rain or Shine, they’re a very tough team,” Black said. “We have expectations that we can beat them by big margins. We know that they can bounce back.” Rain or Shine came within three points at 76-79 with still 3:15 left, but the Painters’ doom were sealed by two misses from the free throw line by Gabe Norwood and a muffed fast break layup by Paul Lee.
Jeff Chan was also held down to near-harmless numbers, with eight of his 10 points coming in the second quarter.
Larry Fonacier had the last of Talk ‘N Text’s 10 triples, one so big that it gave the Texters an 82-76 lead with 2:49 remaining. It was actually just the third field goal of the Texters in the fourth period.
“As badly as we played, I still think that we still had a chance to win this game in the fourth,” Guiao continued. “That’s all we want to do, to hang around, and be able to grind out some wins (in the endgame).
“Problem was, we started out badly in the first quarter and had to work our way back in the game,” he continued. “This is something that is positive. The whole series is going to be a relentless running game for both teams.”
Talk ‘N Text off to flying start in PBA Philippine Cup finals
