TNT LOOKS TO ADD TO SAN MIG COFFEE’S WOES
PBA Commissioner’s Cup titleholder San Mig Coffee didn’t envision to be where it is now.
The Mixers didn’t foresee themselves still working to get their game going, a little over two weeks into the conference and facing a tough opponent in Philippine Cup three-peat champs the Talk n Text Tropang Texters.
At 0-3, they hardly look as the team that fought the Texters in an epic title showdown last year, emerging victorious after seven full games.
They meet in grudge match at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Right now, we’re just looking for some stability. We’ve played with three different lineups in three different games, then add in our new additions and it’s been very unsettling for us so far,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.
“We’ll get going eventually. It’s just a matter of when. We’re hoping it’s sooner than later. Maybe, we can start it against Talk n Text,” Cone added.
Cone said the key is getting their core players to pick up their energy and intensity – something that was missing in their loses to the Barako Bull Energy, the Petron Blaze Boosters and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Even then, the Tropang Texters are not about to take the Mixers for granted.
“We are expecting a hungry San Mig team especially in light of their loss to Rain or Shine. We want to continue to improve on our defense, while keeping the game as up-tempo as possible,” said Talk n Text coach Norman Black.
Rain or Shine came well prepared against Denzel Bowles, holding down the reigning Best Import awardee to 12 points in a 93-65 rout of San Mig Coffee Friday.
“Denzel will work himself into shape, we’re not worried about that,” said Cone.
The Mixers must get into right mix to have a chance to win against the Texters who are now on a roll with stirring wins over the Air21 Express and the Global Port Batang Pier. TnT dropped its opening game in the mid-season tourney versus Meralco.
Talk n Text went in full throttle in the second half and smothered Globalport’s tough challenge early on, hacking out an emphatic 99-79 victory Wednesday.
The Texters stepped up both offensively and defensively in the last two quarters, neutralizing in particular former teammate Japeth Aguilar, holding him down to four points after averaging 15.6 in their first three games.
Keith Benson and his teammates limited the whole Globalport team to 34 in the second half as the Texters dealt the Batang Pier a second loss in four starts in the mid-season tourney.
“We’re able to accomplish some of the things we wanted to do. After our last game, we’re dead last on defense, and I reminded the team of that,” said Black.
The Texters responded by putting in their best defensive effort in a game in this conference. In their first two games, they yielded an average of 91 points to their opponents.
And Black insisted they would want to improve further on playing “D.” (SB)
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