TEXTERS, E-PAINTERS CLASH
Philippine Cup losing semifinalists Talk n Text and Rain or Shine square off in the mainer of Day Two of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome Wednesday night.
The Tropang Texters bring back Richard Howell while the Elasto Painters introduce Rick Jackson with hopes of improving from their finish behind the San Miguel Beermen and the Alaska Aces in the all-Filipino tourney.
The Texters are aching to redeem themselves after being swept by the Beermen in four games in the Philippine Cup semis.
The E-Painters, meanwhile, look to flex their muscles harder after being beaten by the Alaska Aces, 4-2, in their own semis showdown in the last conference.
Rain or Shine performed a little better than Talk n Text in the last tourney, but the Texters hold a big edge over the E-Painters in their head-on matches.
The Texters have won all their last six showdowns and all but five of 26 tiffs dating back to 2010.
In the last Commissioner’s Cup, Talk n Text won their elims match at 85-82 then swept Rain or Shine in their best-of-five semifinals showdown.
And with the familiarity between the Talk n Text locals and their import, the Texters are considered the odds-on picks versus the E-Painters in their 7 p.m. match.
Before his first official game in the local pro league, Jackson had his baptism of fire in a tune-up game with the Purefoods Star Hotshots canceled by a fight between him and Yousef Taha.
Taha was caught on video punching Jackson six times during a rebound battle. The wide-bodied Jackson tried to retaliate, but Taha managed to elude him before the proverbial coolers heads intervened to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.
Jackson said he’s ready to stay on and play the role expected of him at Rain or Shine.
“I can bring a lot of rebounding, help the team in anything really down low because we gotta lot of good shooters,” said the former Syracuse stalwart who won Big East second team citation in 2011.
He played for Team USA in the under-18 Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany in 2006 and led the team with 17.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.
Providing extra flavor in the match is the PBA return of two-time MVP winner Willie Miller.
After drifting back to the amateurs, Miller makes a PBA return via the Talk n Text team, taking over the spot left open by the retirement of Jimmy Alapag.
Miller is rejoining his PBA team from 2004 to 2006 before he suited up with four other squads in Alaska Milk, Barangay Ginebra, Barako Bull and GlobalPort. (SB)
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