Friday, April 27, 2012
At the start of the B-Meg versus Talk N Text PBA Commissioner’s
Cup Finals, the damage Denzel Bowles
unleashed on Ginebra import Jackson
Vroman was still fresh in our minds.
Let’s face it – of the three
SMC imports that started the conference, Bowles was not near the credentials of
Ginebra reinforcement Chris Alexander
and Petron hired gun Nick Fazekas.
All we know is that Tim Cone visited
her daughter in college and saw this seven-foot monster destroy his foes.
Little did we know that this
little-known warrior turned out the best of the bunch?
Guaranteed a Best Import Award, what Denzel Bowles
would like to end this conference kissing a B-Meg title.
“Easier said than done” said the
players and staff of Talk N Text.
While the Llamados prevailed in
Game One, B-Meg was wary of a Talk N Text attack in Game Two. During the clash
the Tropang Texters started out strong but it wouldn’t take long for Bowles and
the rest of the Llamados to make Chot
Reyes go evil anew. Jayson Castro
played insane with 23 points, 5
rebounds, and 5 assists but so did James
Yap with 25 points, 8 rebounds, and
5-of-8 beyond the arc. Ryan Reyes,
Ali Peek, and Kelly Williams combined for 33 points which was a point less
of the combined output of Josh
Urbiztondo, Peter June Simon, and Marc Pingris.
Denzel Bowles outscored Donnell Harvey, 33 to 29 but Harvey had
more rebounds (14 to 13), assists (4 to 1), steals (1 to 0), and blocks (2 to
1) and had fewer turnovers (1 to 3).
The most important thing though
is that Talk N Text managed to expose Bowles’ weakness.
Bowles is a phenom at 22 but
taking those words in consideration… he is just 22.
I’m pretty sure that age doesn’t
matter since he did bring B-Meg to the finals but Bowles’ immaturity showed
during Game Two’s dying seconds. First up, he made a pivotal error when he
threw the ball over to Harvey. If you check out the replays, it felt that
Bowles was throwing a timebomb. You can see in his face (although he covered it
with his jersey) that Bowles grew frustrated at the matter. And then, a couple
of bad plays led to Bowles in the charity stripe. Bowles muffed both shots
which could have been potential game changers.
When the Llamados won 104 to
102, those free throws were badly felt.
So coming to Game Three, I feel
Bowles needs to settle down and let this game slide. I’m pretty sure he will
learn from his mistakes. However for Talk N Text this is something they can
exploit. Let us remember that what we saw in Game Two was reminiscent with the
Ginebra outright semis berth tiebreaker and the first game of the B-Meg/Meralco encounter.
What Donnell Harvey is doing is
what Earl Barron did against Bowles.
Harvey usually gives the ball up to his teammates but in the finals he has been
doing the offensive onslaught with his shot put-like aim. The Meralco Bolts were inches away from a
semis seat but with the unfortunate events that happened on Macmac Cardona proved too much for
their stand. B-Meg might have escaped the Bolts but TNT is a different animal.
Aside from Castro and the aforementioned players, they still have Ranidel De Ocampo, Jared Dillinger, Larry
Fonacier, and Jimmy Alapag. They also have a wonderful system piloted by
Chot Reyes…
… Not to mention that they are
now using their lucky white board named “Lucky
Yellow”.
No question Bowles will have
his numbers.
The question is if he can
sustain it when the game is on the line?
Game Three should be a treat.
Game over!
