TALK ‘N TEXT THROUGH TO FINAL FOUR
Nino Cañaleta and Paul Harris joined forces to lead Talk ‘N Text once more to the semifinals with a 99-84 victory over Barako Bull in their quarterfinals matchup Tuesday in the 2014 PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Cañaleta waxed hot from the threes as he had 14 of his conference-best 25 points in the second half, pulsed by a 6-for-11 shooting from rainbow country, while Harris also dropped 14 in the final 24 minutes to finish with a double-double of 24 markers and 13 boards.
“It was a great team effort by my players today,” said Talk ‘N Text head coach Norman Black. “We’re very balanced as far as scoring is concerned. We had a lot of contributions from almost everybody. One of the keys in my team is we really have to get at least four guys scoring in double-digits. We have to be balanced so we don’t really have to rely totally on Paul Harris.”
Jayson Castro chimed in 16 points, while Ranidel de Ocampo nudged in a double-double of his own with his 14 points and 10 rebounds, alongside seven assists for the Tropang Texters who now await the winner of the San Mig Coffee-San Miguel Beer quarterfinal where the Mixers have the twice-to-beat edge.
The best-of-five semifinals begin at the earliest on Friday.
Though Black was happy with the collective effort his team had, he gave praise to Cañaleta for the exceptional effort he had in the win which ended the Energy’s season and once again lifted TNT to the Final Four in the season-ending conference.
“Today, the guy who stepped up is KG Cañaleta who just had an exceptional shooting night,” he said. “I had to tell KG when he was in Air21 that he was the Talk ‘N Text killer because he played great against us. That’s the reason why we traded for him, and tonight, he did it for us against another team… and we’re hoping for another big game in the future.”
Barako Bull seemed primed to force a winner-take-all affair on Thursday with the Energy’s efforts in the first half en route to a nine-point lead, 56-47, early in the third.
But the Tropang Texters would rally right back with a 10-0 spurt of their own to take the lead, and finished the period on a 10-2 blast to grab a 73-65 advantage.
It was a downhill spiral right there for the Energy, as TNT clamped down on defense and limited the bull-strong import Allen Durham to just four points in the final canto.
Talk ‘N Text also found their stroke from the three-point line, and got dunks from Kelly Williams and Harris as they opened the floodgates for an 18-point lead, 97-79, with 3:17 left, after a de Ocampo basket.
“The main key in this game was our defense in the second half,” Black said. “In the first half, we tried to play Durham straight up. It didn’t really work so we just decided to go after him and try to get the ball out of his hands, and it worked in the second half because their offense sputtered and we were able to pull away.”
Durham ended his short stint in the conference with 25 points and 17 rebounds, to go with his six assists, while Keith Jensen matched his career-high of 17, even as Denok Miranda (12), and Mick Pennisi (11) all finished in double-digits for Barako Bull.
“The next step is the semifinals. No matter who we play, it’s gonna be a tough series,” said Black after the win which gave Talk ‘N Text an eleventh conference semifinal appearance over the last 13 conferences..
The multi-titled mentor was frank enough to admit that he’s not rooting for any team in Tuesday’s second game, as he said, “I don’t really care who we play against.”
“It’s all about my team just focusing on our goals and what we’re trying to accomplish. Whether we play San Miguel or San Mig Coffee, we’re gonna play our best and we’ll be out there trying to win.” (RL)
The scores: (Click HERE for full boxscores)
TALK N’ TEXT 99 – Cañaleta 25, Harris 24, Castro 16, De Ocampo 14, Williams 7, Fonacier 4, Alapag 3, Ry. Reyes 2, Baclao 2, Carey 2, Aban 0, J. Reyes 0, Espiritu 0.
BARAKO BULL 84 – Durham 25, Jensen 17, Miranda 12, Pennisi 11, Fortuna 6, Wilson 5, Miller 4, Marcelo 4, Deutchman 0, Intal 0.
Quarterscores: 16-17, 41-43, 73-65, 99-84.
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