Fiesta Cup champion Alaska Milk and powerhouse Talk ’N Text try to keep their unbeaten slates intact when they gun for win No. 3 against separate opponents in the 36th PBA Season Philippine Cup this Friday at the Astrodome in Pasay City.
The Aces meet the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 5 p.m., while the Tropang Texters tackle the newcomer Meralco Bolts at 7:30 p.m.
Alaska improved its record to 2-0 after beating defending champion B-Meg Derby Ace, 92-87, with forward Joe Devance leading the way with 24 points late Wednesday. The Aces’ first win this season was against the Barako Bull Energy Boosters (88-64).
However, Alaska will face Rain or Shine, a team that is coming off a nail-biting 89-86 win against Air21 also Wednesday night.
Jeff Chan, one of the team’s eight holdovers, buried a huge three-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Painters their first taste of victory after losing to the Powerade Tigers (103-111) last week.
“Rain or Shine is coming off an emotional high after their win, so we expect them to start well,” Alaska coach Tim Cone said. “They have a much better balanced lineup this year and more pieces to fit around Norwood and Mercado. It will be a challenge to limit them defensively.”
Talk ’N Text also won its first two games, beating B-Meg (87-76) and San Miguel Beer (97-83).
Against newcomer Meralco, TNT will face a team that has two of its former franchise players in bigman Asi Taulava and Mark Cardona.
The 6-foot-9 Taulava played for the franchise for nearly 10 seasons before he was dealt to Coca-Cola (now Powerade) in 2007, while the 6-foot-2 Cardona donned the Talk ’N Text uniform since 2005 before he was shipped in the off-season to the Bolts.
Talk ’N Text mentor Chot Reyes expects the Bolts to play solid defensively, the trademark of Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio.
“We’re anticipating a defensive struggle,” Reyes said.
“Meralco will try to keep the score low and use their height advantage over us so we need to be patient and not get frustrated,” he added.
The Bolts won their PBA debut with a 73-72 win over Barangay Ginebra on Mark Cardona’s game-winner, but their bid to make it two-in-a-row was foiled when Barako Bull shocked them, 68-74, last Sunday.
Gregorio said they have to forget about the painful loss and focus against the highly-talented TNT, which despite the absence of Ranidel de Ocampo (foot injury), has remained dangerous.
Former MVP Kelly Williams, Jimmy Alapag, Harvey Carey, Ryan Reyes, Jason Castro and Jared Dillinger are expected to lead the team anew.
“We are moving forward after losing to Barako,” Gregorio said. “It is important for us to address our weaknesses in order to compete against the superpowers in the league. Talk ’N Text is playing well, they are in sync with their offensive rhythm.”
Games Friday (Astrodome, Pasay City)
5 p.m. — Rain or Shine vs Alaska
7:30 p.m. — Meralco vs Talk ’N Text
Game Saturday (Naga City)
5 p.m. — B-Meg vs Air21
Source: Snowbadua.com
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