MANILA, 13 February 2004 — Talk ‘N’ Text’s intimidating frontline and its deep bench could very make them the team to beat in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) this year.
Coach Joel Banal’s crew, truly, is capable of beating the best opponents on any given night.
Consider this.
Paul Asi Taulava, Yancy de Ocampo, Vic Pablo on the frontline. Then the back-up men: newly-acquired Willie Miller and Jimmy Alapag.
This starting unit could be too much for other teams to counter.
But don’t forget, the ballclub also has talented men on the bench just waiting to be tapped. These are Harvey Carey, Patrick Fran, Donbel Belano, Bong Ravena, Mark Telan and fresh recruits Nino Gelig and Christopher Guerrero.
The bottom line is that Banal has got dependable players in every position and a merry mix of depth, experience and savvy.
Interestingly, the Phone Pals pulled off a master stroke, reaching deals with Red Bull Barako and FedEx to grab Miller and De Ocampo.
Miller was offered by Red Bull management around 12 million pesos, including the maximum monthly salary of 350,000 pesos for the next three years, when his contract with the Photokina franchise expired. But the exciting, 6-foot guard out of Letran College opted to sign with the Pals for a little less than 11 million pesos.
With that imposing lineup, they could easily surpass its already remarkable 32-24 win-loss record last year. The team finished second only behind Coca-Cola in the most number of games won and third behind Red Bull Barako (30-13) and Coca-Cola (44-21) in terms of win-loss percentage last year.
The Phone Pals’ initial target this year is to capture the Fiesta Cup title, then defend the All-Filipino crown which they won last year with a less impressive lineup, without Miller and De Ocampo.
Obviously, Miller’s arrival gives the Phone Pals another mean weapon, with the 2002 Most Valuable Player (MVP) winner likely to thrive on the team’s run-and-gun game.
Miller, an acrobatic pointguard, will bring to the Phone Pals his crowd-drawing slasher moves, an MVP trophy, a Rookie of the Year award and two conference championships adorning his credentials. He was a vital cog in Red Bull squad since crossing over from the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association in 2001, helping the Photokina franchise win the Governors Cup in 2001 and 2002.
The acquisition of Miller, who was also named to the All-Defensive Team this year, will surely be beneficial for Talk N’ Text because he will be teaming up with Alapag, this year’s top rookie, to form the league’s most formidable backcourt.
De Ocampo, meanwhile, makes the Phone Pals more ferocious at the paint. The team came up short against Coca-Cola in last year’s Reinforced Conference semifinals and this could serve as extra motivation for the Phone Pals to work hard right in the PBA transition tourney which opens Feb. 22 at the Araneta Coliseum.
In fact, Talk ‘N’ Text has gone the extra mile, with the team flying to the United States to attend clinics under highly-respected coaches there as arranged by their former coach, Bill Bayno.
“The management is leaving no stone unturned to make sure we get a good shot at winning more PBA championships,” said team manager Frankie Lim during the recent PBA draft. The only problem looming in the horizon for Banal is how he will deal with a great number of stars who all expect to be given a decent playing time.
Another title favorite, Coca-Cola has very little movement in the off-season.
The Chot Reyes- mentored Tigers captured the import-laced Commissioner’s Cup title last year and will be coming into the Fiesta Conference armed with all the experience needed and the manpower to pull it off.
Aside from rookies Gary David and import Mark Sanford, the Tigers have remained intact, with Reyes not tinkering on a winning formula that has made Coke a contender since coming to this league a couple of years back.
Sanford comes as a perfect fit to this Coca-Cola team as the import, listed at 6-feet-8, is a hard-worker like the rest of the men in the team. The Tigers are one of the deepest teams on paper, but the people on its roster are not the ones who are the celebrity types, but rather, only the ones who get the job done anytime without much fanfare.”
Rudy Hatfield and Jeffrey Cariaso have both become dependable go-to-guys for the Tigers and Johnny Abarrientos and Hawkins himself are in prime shape despite their age.
