Uichico not satisfied with Texters’ performance in PBA finals opener
Talk ‘N Text head coach Jong Uichico FILE PHOTO
Talk ‘N Text head coach Jong Uichico appeared as if his team just lost as he met the media for a post-game interview shortly after the Tropang Texters won Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals over Rain or Shine Wednesday night.
Slouching on his chair, Uichico said he wasn’t pleased with his team’s 99-92 victory.
READ: Texters beat Rain or Shine, take PBA finals game 1
“We’re happy we won but we’re not satisfied with the way we played,” Uichico told reporters.
According to Uichico, the Texters performed far from the same team that disposed of defending champion Purefoods in four games in the semifinals.
“For sure. Though we won, we didn’t show the level of emotion that we had in the Purefoods game and we can’t just let Rain or Shine, they know they have the capability of scoring really well,” Uichico added.
Veteran forward Ranidel de Ocampo led Talk ‘N Text with 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field on top of two blocks.
The Painters missed a ton at the free throw line going just 18-of-33 and turned the ball over 17 times as compared to the Texters’ eight errors. But despite their awful shooting and sloppy play, they were still in the game until Texters’ star Jayson Castro nailed a dagger of a triple that gave his team a 96-86 advantage with only 1:26 left.
“We just have to go to practice tomorrow and try to improve our free throws and try to find a solution to the turnovers we committed,” Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao said. “The game would’ve been a lot closer had we made our free throws and committed lesser turnovers.”
Guiao also fired back at Talk ‘N Text import Ivan Johnson, who appeared to purposely bumped him late in the third quarter. The ill-tempered Johnson was given a technical foul for running into Guiao.
“He (Johnson) did it on purpose,” Guiao, who is also a Congressman, said of the play.
READ: Johnson bump ‘probably a lack of breeding, respect’
Castro, who came in scoring 53 points combined in his last two games while shooting 14-of-19 from the 3-point area, had a subpar outing by his standards with 14 points on only 5-of-15 shooting to go along with five rebounds and five assists.
The Texters will shoot for a 2-0 edge on Friday in Game 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
