MANILA, 15 June 2004 — Asi Taulava sacrificed offense for defense and Talk N’ Text was all the better for it.
With Taulava concentrating on stopping Art Long, Jerald Honeycutt and Willie Miller shone on the offensive end as the Phone Pals hacked out a 104-92 victory over San Miguel Beer, endangering the Beermen’s semis hopes in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.
Honeycutt exploded for 39 points and 14 rebounds while Miller came up with a career-high 31, but it was Taulava, the reigning Most Valuable Player, who elicited the biggest praise from TNT coach Joel Banal.
“Asi made a big sacrifice for us tonight,” said Banal of the tournament’s leading MVP candidate who went into the game averaging 25.5 points per game but took only two attempts from the field and netted just two points from the stripe.
Taulava hauled down 13 rebounds and anchored the defense on Long, particularly in the second half where the explosive San Miguel import was limited to just six of his 17 points.
With one vital cog in their offensive machine stymied, the Beermen never got going in the fourth period and trailed by as many as 14 points while the Phone Pals completed a rousing semis debut in Group A of the quarterfinals for a tie with idle Red Bull Barako. The loss came on the heels of eliminations topnotcher San Miguel Beer’s 87-96 defeat to the Barakos last Wednesday in the sprint-like, three-game quarterfinals, practically quashing their semifinals bid.
Banal can’t quite put his finger on what ails San Miguel Beer, but admits he knows the Beermen’s impending, collective feeling. With the TNT defense able to sag out to SMB’s outside shooters, the Beermen had to literally scrape for their points. In the second game, the Alaska Aces absorbed their second straight defeat, 76-92, at the hands of the Coca-Cola Tigers in Group B.
Alaska kept the game close for three quarters but lost any hope of stemming the tide after Galen Young, playing with a painful knee he hurt late in the third, fouled out with still eight minutes to go.
With an all-Filipino crew, the Aces were simply no match for the Tigers who controlled the tempo of the match throughout.
As things stand now, the only way SMB and Alaska could salvage a spot in the semifinals of their respective groups is to wind up in a triple for second in their respective groups at 1-2 record although their fate now is not in their hands as they would also need to have a superior PBA quotient in order to figure in a playoff for a semifinal berth.
