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TALK ‘N TEXT BAGS PHILIPPINE CUP WITH 4-0 SHUTOUT
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And they secured their place among the league’s immortals.
Unrelenting and unstoppable, the Talk n Text Tropang Texters broke new ground as they swept away the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to stretch their PBA Philippine Cup reign to three seasons before a cheering crowd of over 17,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.
The Texters were a determined bunch in pulling off a 105-82 win for the unprecedented all-Filipino three-peat via a sweep.
“Talk n Text just played great basketball tonight. Sometimes, it happens,” said coach Norman Black of the emphatic victory they fashioned out to highlight yet another dominant conference keeping their status as the most dominant team of their time.
“I’m just so happy for my players. They worked hard for this. They deserved this. Credit goes to them,” Black also said, becoming a part of the TnT fresh from his UAAP five-peat with the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
Before the game, Jayson Castro won the Best Player of the Conference. And in the din of the TnT victory celebration, Ranidel de Ocampo was named the Papa John’s Pizza Finals MVP winner.
De Ocampo came through with a near triple-double job with 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, capping a consistent finals showing where he averaged 18 markers, 8 boards and 3.5 dole-outs.
After Game Three, Castro was also a strong contender for the award. He virtually surrendered it to De Ocampo as the BPC winner asked to be rested with a good seven minutes left to play and TnT just nine points ahead at 80-71.
De Ocampo and Jared Dillinger delivered the coup de grace as the Texters ended up becoming only the fourth team to score a 4-0 finals win after NCC over Manila Beer in 1985, Swift Mighty Meaty over Seven-up in 1992 and Purefoods over Alaska only three years back.
“No question Rain or Shine is tough, but the Alaska series helped us a great deal against them. We fought Alaska tooth and nail,” said Black of their sweep feat versus the reigning Governors Cup champs.
What was billed as a gigantic match turned out to be a big mismatch with the Texters dominating the E-Painters through four games.
“They (the Texters) deserved it. It’s my fault. I failed to prepare them (the E-Painters) the way they should’ve been prepared,” said RoS coach Yeng Guiao.
So impressive were the Texters they ended the tourney the way they started it – six straight wins.
The Texters outclassed the Elasto Painters for a fourth straight night, completing a sweet sweep that served as the grand highlight of the Smart/PLDT franchise becoming the first organization in three decades to win the all-Filipino tourney in three straight seasons.
Through the last five years, the Texters were easily the league’s most successful team with a total of five crowns.
Black marked a victorious return in the pro league and he said the win “means a lot to me.”
“I’ve been away for so long. I’ve always wanted to get back in the country’s best league. I’m just waiting for the right time and I’m fortunate to coach a team with a winning formula,” said Black, now a 10-time PBA champion coach.
Coming out with fire in their belly, the Texters established control early, briefly lost it then stormed away, whooping it up with over 30 seconds left to play.
The Texters were simply unstoppable last night with a remarkable 14-of-34 three-point shooting and a 42-of-86 total field goal on a league conference best 34 assists.
Providing big help to De Ocampo’s near triple-double game were Kelly Williams, Ali Peek, Jared Dillinger, Larry Fonacier and Jimmy Alapag who tossed in at least 10 points each.
The Texters came out smoking, opening an early huge margin at 29-13 before settling for a 53-46 spread at the turn.
Dillinger fired a trey before the buzzer sounded as TnT kept a seven-point margin, 70-63, at the end of the third period.
Fonacier, scoring no more than nine points in any of the first three games, led the Texters in their hot start, knocking in 10 in the first half on 4-of-5 field shooting.
TnT was still enjoying a double-digit spread, 49-36, before TY Tang and Beau Belga provided RoS some spark coming off the bench, allowing the E-Painters to chop their deficit down going to the final half.
The Texters seemed to come out with an offensive mindset, engaging the E-Painters in a shootout with Fonacier, Peek, Williams and De Ocampo firing away at least eight points each in the first 24 minutes of play.
Game Four’s first-half outputs by the two teams were the highest in the series. (SB)
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EDITORS' PICK
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