Monday, April 23, 2012
All hell will break loose after
the Smart-Araneta Coliseum cleans up
the stench dealt by Grayson Chance.
Eww… foreign teen sensations…
eww!
Anyway, with the Marcio Lassiter trade and the lack of
dominant superstars in the Best Player race
are creating a lot of buzz AWAY the finals.
So what’s there to look forward
to?
A LOT!
While it sickens me that Ginebra lost, my second favorite team
in the PBA right now is expected to
dominate the series.
So who’s my second favorite
team?
Both of them.
Tangina balimbing o!
Ahem.
Anyway, I’m going to make this
really, really quick because I also have another article due. It’s a battle of
system versus system where a multi-titled Tim
Cone will battle the league’s best coach in the last two years.
The Talk N Text Tropang Texters defend their crown against the B-Meg Llamados!
Talk N
Text is
so used to winning that we hate the sight of them again being in the finals. Chot Reyes wants to end his PBA coaching career with a grand slam
and I am sold that he will use his resources wisely to successfully defend
their crown.
Here are the factors for Talk N
Text to win the plum:
Destroy
Denzel Bowles
In this conference, Super Bowles rule. The guy is a
consistent performer and if the PBA continues with the unlimited height shtick
for next year, expect this guy to come back… if he has yet to in the NBA. Donnell Harvey and the rest of TNT’s bigs must devise a plan to
limit his production. I use the word “limit” loosely because Bowles is a
monster inside.
Destroy
the Original Llamados
The core of the Ryan Gregorio title team must be
contained. James Yap has been
scoring that much lately but it’s evident that he can shoot TNT’s lights out
when the game is on the line. Peter June
Simon is the team’s zone buster because whether he is driving, shooting, or
drawing – it’s stupid for the defense to not collapse on him. And then there’s Marc Pingris. Pingris was awfully quiet
at the start of the conference but business picked up during the playoffs and
again, his rebounding is a thing that TNT needs to stop.
Destroy
the lack of bench depth
Curiously the Llamados are
talent-stacked in the second string department. Josh Urbiztondo, Mark Barroca, and Jonas Villanueva take turns in
the PG spot with JC Intal playing the slasher spot and the trio of Joe Devance, Rafi Reavis, and Yancy De
Ocampo doing the things that make Tim Cone happy. One of these players is
expected to pop up at one point in the series and the Tropa needs to ready
themselves in defending such chaos.
B-Meg on the other hand is four
wins away for giving Tim Cone his first taste of PBA gold away from the Alaska colors. This will also serve as
redemption that they felt when they wasted their top seed to get eliminated by
the Powerade Tigers.
Here are the Llamados’ factors:
Destroy
Donnell Harvey
Harvey is not a dominant scorer
and there are times when TNT will use him as decoy to make his teammates better
but he gets it when he needs to produce the numbers. The guy is a very
intelligent player and he is using his NBA experience wisely. I can also see
Harvey stepping in and play defense against Bowles. Also unlike Jackson Vroman, given how the Texters
raced back from a 1-2 deficit against Barako Bull, he has grace under pressure.
Destroy
consistency
In some ways, Talk N Text’s
offense is just like Ginebra’s. TNT relies heavily on their backcourt stars (Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Ryan Reyes, Larry
Fonacier, and Jared Dillinger) for offensive production. The difference
between Ginebra and TNT is that the Tropang Texters have able scorers from the
inside like Ranidel De Ocampo, Kelly
Williams, Harvey Carey, and Ali Peek. It’s impossible for these guys to
play bad and win but as we saw in the Barako Bull series, these guys can be
stopped. Look for B-Meg to check out the 2-3 zone defense the Energy implied
because TNT had difficulty cracking that stance.
Destroy
the good shot selections
One thing TNT has that B-Meg
doesn’t is range. If Pingris defends against Ranidel, De Ocampo needs to draw
him out of the shaded area. So is Kelly Williams. Ryan Reyes is a great
rebounding guard and when he dials from deep then expect the B-Meg to scramble
especially when Jimmy Alapag and Jayson Castro joins them. Will B-Meg use
quickness in stopping TNT’s speedsters or will they use their size? One thing
TNT has is that they can shift from one rotation to another in an instant. The
Llamados need to push these guys to their weak spots and hope and pray that won’t
luck out.
One team will win this series
in six games. I won’t be surprised if both squads dig deep in their rotation to
catch the other team off-guard. I call for Rich
Alvarez to see action at one point because if TNT goes on to do a circus of
talents to cast a shadow on Bowles, I can see this guy coming in. Meanwhile,
don’t be surprised to see Val Acuna getting
minutes. I know Acuna isn’t a name that serves the list well but he might come
in helpful if TNT decides to exploit Dillinger and Fonacier against Yap and
Simon.
The top teams collide for this
exciting series.
Who will win: the team picked
to win… or the team that everyone wants to defeat.
Game over!
