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Two teams fought hell and back to contend at the PBA’s most prestigious conference.
The rationale behind the All-Filipino Cup is self-explanatory and the top player of this conference will likely proceed to winning the Most Valuable Player trophy. Without the imports, these coaches will use every resource they can deploy to win this Best-of-Seven tiff.
So let’s meet the contenders!
POWERADE TIGERS
Coach: Bo Perasol
2010 – 11 PBA Philippine Cup Roster:
Gary David, Dennis Espino, Mark Macapagal, Renren Ritualo, Chico Lanete, Will Antonio, Sean Anthony, Rob Reyes, Eddie Laure, Norman Gonzales, RJ Rizada, Jai Reyes, Ricky Calimag, Paolo Mendoza, Ronjay Enrile, and Francis Allera.
2011 – 12 PBA All-Filipino Cup Roster:
Gary David, Marcio Lassiter, JV Casio, Doug Kramer, Sean Anthony, Celino Cruz, Rudy Lingganay, Josh Vanlandingham, Ricky Calimag, Romel Adducul, Will Antonio, Alex Crisano, James Martinez, and Francis Allera.
A couple of conferences ago, the Powerade Tigers are just a team with an above average scorer. Gary David is undoubtedly Bo Perasol’s go-to-guy and while he’ll average in the 18 to 22 scoring parameters, the next scorer on their lineup mere shells out nine points a night. Also, the team was infested by shooting guards whose careers never really took off, veterans in their last legs, and post up personnel that can’t be defended in putting the clamps on a better squad’s big man.
Now, the Tigers have transformed into a team with an above average scorer… and more.
This is one team that flourished under a new core of talent. Leading this core is the rookie duo of top pick JV Casio and fourth pick Marcio Lassiter. Only five players returned from last season’s roster (Celino Cruz was a last season midseason acquisition) as most of their old core became goodwill ambassadors for the Coke basketball program.
While it took time before their team could mesh, their team clicked in time for the knockout stages. This was when Casio has recovered from an injury that sidelined him in the Tigers’ first three games. The Tigers first took out the top seed B-Meg Llamados. As the eighth seed, I thought Powerade was lucky to face B-Meg because even with their hot start in the eliminations, B-Meg is still learning Tim Cone’s vaulted triangle system. It also helped that when the Tigers swept the Llamados, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters were hosing off the Barangay Ginebra Kings’ challenge. This led to a Powerade versus Rain or Shine faceoff. With Gary David’s hot scoring alongside the blazing performances of Casio, Lassiter, Sean Anthony, and Doug Kramer, Bo Perasol and the Tigers disposed of the Elasto Painters in seven games to score the team’s first finals trip under the Powerade banner (they last earned a finals berth as the Coca-Cola Tigers).
TALK N TEXT TROPANG TEXTERS
Coach: Chot Reyes
2010 – 11 PBA Philippine Cup Roster:
Jimmy Alapag, Ali Peek, Harvey Carey, Kelly Williams, Jared Dillinger, Jayson Castro, Larry Fonacier, Ryan Reyes, Ranidel De Ocampo, Aaron Aban, Mark Yee, Rich Alvarez, Mark Telan, Gilbert Lao, and Emmerson Oreta.
2011 – 12 PBA All-Filipino Cup Roster:
Jayson Castro, Kelly Williams, Jared Dillinger, Ryan Reyes, Japeth Aguilar, Harvey Carey, Larry Fonacier, Jimmy Alapag, Ali Peek, Ranidel De Ocampo, Aaron Aban, Bam Gamalinda, Shawn Weinstein, Emmerson Oreta, Charles Waters, Pamboy Raymundo, Magnum Membrere, Rich Alvarez, and Gilbert Lao.
They were last season’s most powerful squad. Their second unit can flunk out the best of any random squad. With two conferences under their belt, they were the team the beat. They were destined to share spotlight with the first and second Crispa grand slam squads (led by Baby Dalupan and Tommy Manotoc respectively), the San Miguel Beermen, and the Alaska Milkmen.
Unfortunately all hopes of joining the elite squads went crashing down as the Tropang Texters and their crappy imports succumb to Anthony Grundy and the Petron Blaze Boosters (Mark Yee had a “hand” in this).
Afterwards, it all went downhill for Chot Reyes and the rest of the Tropang Texters despite having a virtually intact lineup. After representing the country at the 2011 FIBA-Asia Championship, reigning MVP Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams, and Ranidel De Ocampo encountered a bunch of DNP’s to heal their sustained injuries. In the course of the conference, only Larry Fonacier and Japeth Aguilar played in all of their games. The Tropang Texters fielded in a total of 19 players with Bam Gamalinda, a player that was about to suit up for the NLEX Road Warriors, the last player to be inserted in the roster.
It didn’t help that Ali Peek was struck in the neck by a gunman.
Peek survived and for some reason, so did the Tropang Texters.
The defending champions paraded the second-best win-loss record despite their problems of keeping their squad healthy. Jayson Castro, Harvey Carey, and Williams emerged as their team’s consistent deliverers and by the end of the elimination round they safely disposed of the stubborn Barako Bull Energy.
The win set the Tropang Texters to stage a grudge match against the team responsible in sending their grand slam hopes in awry. However, backed by the one-two punch of Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot, Petron proved to be a tough team to beat. The Boosters raced to a three-to-one lead despite the Tropang Texters drawing blood. With a 1-3 deficit, Talk N Text looked down and out.
But fate had other ideas.
With their backs against the wall, the walking wounded of Talk N Text scored two straight wins en route to a do or die match. In Game 7, Petron had a good lead at the end of the first quarter but somehow the Tropang Texters clawed back and took over the game. When the dust cleared, Talk N Text shocked Petron with a 92-91 finish. Furthermore, the Tropang Texters became the third team in PBA history to win a series despite having a 1-3 disadvantage. This win was also ironic for the Boosters because the first two teams to make the feat are their sister squads, Ginebra and Purefoods.
At the moment, I am a fan of the underdogs but there is no questioning the power that Talk N Text has over their rivals.
Nonetheless expect a dogfight from these two.
Game over.
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