NOW OR NEVER: Petron-Talk ‘N Text, Powerade-ROS

INQUIRER PHOTO/ August dela Cruz

MANILA, Philippines—For two squads loaded with superstar names, reaching the finals was something like a birthright. It was something that experts picked as the next arena for their rivalry.

For two other teams, the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs was supposed to be over a whole lot earlier than Wednesday’s doubleheader.

But tonight at the Cuneta Astrodome, only one of the two powerhouse teams will actually march straight to the finals, where it will battle against a squad no one else expected to get there.

Defending champion Talk ‘N Text and Petron Blaze, high-priced ballclubs that were supposed to be battling for the league’s most prestigious crown, tangle in a 7:30 p.m. contest that will earn the winner merely a shot at the title.

Both teams take the court knowing who they will meet if they reach the finals: Minutes before they tip off, Rain or Shine and Powerade would have already settled their semifinal showdown.

The Elasto Painters and the Tigers tangle in the 5:15 p.m. game for a slot in the best-of-seven championship.

How improbable was such a scenario? While the winner will earn a shot at the Philippine Cup trophy and earn a franchise-first championship, the loser would still be an overachiever.

“One more game for all the marbles,” Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes said Sunday night after a 111-108 Game 6 decision of the Boosters that gave them this chance of becoming just the third team in 36 years to come back from a 1-3 deficit and win.

“We’re a team with nothing to lose,” he added. “We’re fighting for our lives and we hope to find the same energy and desire (today).”

Petron has exhausted the first two of its three chances to eliminate the Tropang Texters and assure a new champion, but as coach Ato Agustin said Sunday night, this series has a seventh game because “it’s our fault.”

“Of course we are frustrated,” Agustin said. “I think we lost our focus, especially on defense. It’s all about mental toughness. If they score 100 points up, we are going to lose the game.

“This is their first time to score 100-plus points in the conference. They deserved to win. They shot 51 percent,” he added. “What happened is that it became a shooting contest.”

Rain or Shine undoubtedly has the momentum against the Tigers, whom they defanged, 112-98, also Sunday. And coach Yeng Guiao sounded that he has got Powerade all figured out.

“I think we will come in fresher,” he said. “That’s because only three players are playing for them.”

Those three—Gary David and rookies Marcio Lassiter and JV Casio—should be spent dogs at this point, more so after they didn’t get much from their supporting cast in Game 6.

And coach Bo Perasol of the Tigers acknowledges that fact.

“If we’re going to be a team that will make history, we should be working more than that,” Perasol said. “They (David, Casio and Lassiter) are delivering, and the ones that are not are their support cast.
“The whole team needs to deliver.”

Meanwhile, the flagrant foul 1 called on Alex Cabagnot of Petron and Ali Peek of Talk ‘N Text were upgraded to FF2 with both escaping suspensions. Cabagnot, however, was fined P20,000, while Peek was levied a P10,000 fine.