KG Canaleta of Barako Bull (dark) vs Jason Deutchman of Talk N Text (light). NUKI SABIO/PBA
MANILA, Philippines —Talk ‘N Text head coach Norman Black had seen Niño Canaleta give the Tropang Texters fits when he used to play for Air21.
Tuesday night, Black was reminded of why he got Canaleta two conferences ago as he helped Talk ‘N Text run away in the fourth quarter to beat Barako Bull, 99-84, and enter the 2014 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Today the guy that stepped up was KG Canaleta. He just had an exceptional shooting night,” said Black. “I always tell KG when he played for Air21, he’s a Talk ‘N Text killer because he would play so great against us and that’s the reason why we traded for him.”
The 32-year-old Canaleta was acquired by the Texters in exchange for Eloy Poligrates and Sean Anthony just before the Philippine Cup playoffs started and hasn’t really been able to produce the kind of performance he’s known for when he was with the Express until Tuesday night.
“And tonight he did it for us against another team so I’m really happy for him. This is probably the biggest game he’s had since he joined our team and we’re hoping he’ll have big games also in the future,” added Black.
Canaleta shot the lights out from downtown en route to a 25-point outing built on six triples, two of which coming in back-to-back fashion that put TNT on top by 16, 95-79, with 4:21 left.
Three other Texters hit double-digit scoring with Paul Harris tallying 24 points while Jayson Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo had 16 and 14 points, respectively.
“We have a lot contributions from almost everybody and one of the keys for my team is at least get four guys in the scoring column at least we have balance and we don’t really have to rely on Paul Harris too much,” said Black.
Allen Durham led the Energy with 25 points, 17 rebounds and six assists but didn’t get enough touches in the second half especially in the fourth quarter when Talk ‘N Text’s defense clamped down on him.
“I thought the main key for us in this game was our defense in the second half. In the first half we tried to play Durham straight up and 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,” Black pointed out.
Top seeded Talk ‘N Text faces either San Mig Coffee or San Miguel Beer in a best-of-three semis series.
“Our next step is the semifinals and no matter who we play it’s going to be a tough series. I don’t really care who we play against. It doesn’t really matter to me. I think it’s all about my team just focusing in on our goals and what we’re trying to accomplish,” Black said.
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