MANILA, Philippines — San Mig Coffee exhausts the second of three chances it has to see Talk ‘N Text off and take another step closer a cherished shot at a Grand Slam when the Mixers and the Tropang Texters slug it out in Game 4 of their PBA Governors’ Cup Final Four series at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Stalled in a one-sided way on Monday night with an 112-86 loss where they trailed by as many as 28 points, the Mixers try to regain their wits for the 8 p.m. game as the Texters try to pull off one more surprise to drag this thing into a winner-take-all game.
Talk ‘N Text coach Norman Black was able to dodge a series sweep when he went all-in for the first time in the series and caught the Mixers unawares.
He knows that counterpart Tim Cone could be up to the challenge this time.
“We might try something else in the next game and hopefully, it will throw them off guard,” Black said as to his Game 4 plan.
On Monday night, Black inserted two bench warmers into the starting unit and cleared his bench even before the first half ended, and the result was a beautiful thing as his aces remained fresh the whole game and had an answer every time San Mig tried to come back.
The one thing going for Cone in this crucial game is that he was, because of the lopsided nature of Game 3, able to give his starters precious time to cool their heels.
Marqus Blakely, for one, played just 27 minutes and no local played more than 26, as Cone threw in the white flag early.
Joe Devance, who was cited by the PBA Press Corps as its Accel-Player of the Week for games played until Sunday, was the local who had the longest floor time for Cone and finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
The former University of El Paso-Texas standout is averaging 13 points per game in the series, and will surely be a concern of Black when he devises his defensive game plan for Wednesday.
Paul Harris, meanwhile, will continue to lead the Texters on both ends as he tries to play defense on Blakely for the second straight game and prevent the San Mig import from taking over.
Ranidel de Ocampo will be coming off a great game, shooting 24 points built around a 4-of-5 clip from beyond trifectaville and 6-of-8 from two-point zone.
It was the first game that he totally dominated a game in his match-up with fellow national team standout Marc Pingris.
Jimmy Alapag also had a reawakening, and the Texters have a chance of taking this series to the full route if the former MVP again connects from the outside.