Texters barge into semis with fourth straight win

MANILA: Talk ‘N Text is again in a place it has been most familiar with the past two years.
Even with powerhouse B-Meg standing in the way, the Tropang Texters steamrollered to their fourth straight victory, ripping the Llamados, 89-72 last night to grab a seat in the semifinal round of the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Larry Fonacier scored 16 points, including two crucial triples late in the fourth that quelled the last of several B-Meg uprisings as the Texters improved to 5-3 to not only tie the Llamados in second but also assure passage into the playoffs.
“I think we wanted it more (than B-Meg) tonight,” Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes said minutes after the win. “They are already in (the semifinals), while we wanted to assure ourselves that we would still be playing.
“As much as we want to relax and celebrate, we have to be ready against Rain or Shine on Sunday,” Reyes added as they clash with the league-leading Elasto Painters in three nights. “They’re playing the best basketball in the league right now.” Ranidel de Ocampo had 15 points and eight rebounds and summed up what the battlecry before the game was all about.
“For us, it was not being denied of our familiar place in the playoffs,” De Ocampo said in Filipino. “We were very driven to succeed.” The loss was the second straight for the Llamados, who were held to a paltry 10 points in the opening period and were never really able to make a dent on several commanding leads enjoyed by the Texters.
Going into the final three playdates of the elimination round, only three teams have so far secured complications-free berths, leaving Powerade, Barangay Ginebra, Barako Bull, Petron Blaze and Meralco slugging it out for the remaining three.
All squads, save for the Barako Bull Energy which has a 3-4 record with two games left, have 4-4 records and the possibility of Talk ‘N Text and B-Meg being dragged into a playoff for the last berths at 5-4 is still in the horizon.
The remaining scheduled games could complicate matters or could even advance a team with a losing record into the next round, where play will be single round after the elimination round records of all qualifiers are carried over.
Rain or Shine, which has a 7-1 slate on the strength of a 4-0 start and victories in its last three games, will be watching the action from above and could make life harder for the Texters with another victory on Sunday.
The chase for the remaining playoff berths hit fever-pitch on a night Alaska closed out its worst season in the league with a workmanlike 110-80 destruction of also-ran Air21 in the first game.
Cyrus Baguio led a furious Alaska start in the first two periods by hitting all three of his triple tries as the Aces played with complete command and won to put an end to a very disappointing season.
The dynasty of the 1990s, Alaska failed to advance past the eliminations for the second time in three conferences this year, the first season of the post-Tim Cone era which saw the Aces go through two coaching changes.
With an 11-24 record for a winning percentage of .318, the Aces finished the worst season in franchise history, uglier by a mile compared to the 20-29 mark they had when they entered the league in 1986.
Winning just 11 games this year also established a franchise-worst mark, as it was seven wins shy of the 18-21 mark Alaska had in 1993, when the squad brought in a 5-foot-8 rookie named Johnny Abarrientos.
“There were a lot of expectations and we are a team in transition,” said Luigi Trillo, who took over from the resigned Joel Banal just two weeks before this conference started.
“These are growing pains, and something we could build on.”