PBA 2011: Texters' magical run in Commissioner's Cup

It was definitely one of the most dominant title runs in a single conference in Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) history.

Buried under the rubble of merriment was Talk 'N Text's magical ride in bagging the Commissioner's Cup title at Barangay Ginebra's expense. The Tropang Texters, behind the 1-2 punch of Jimmy Alapag and Jason Castro and the all-around plays of import Paul Harris, came close to finishing their campaign with just a single loss. But a last-second missed shot by Alapag in Game 2—a 108-106 loss by the Texters against the Kings—of the Finals prevented them and coach Chot Reyes of a possible sweep of the best-of-seven title series. The telecommunications franchise, instead, settled for a 4-2 series win, including a 99-96 Game 6 clincher in overtime. "We came close to getting 15-1," said Reyes, looking back at his team's near-perfect title drive. In all, Talk 'N Text finished with a 15-3 (win-loss) overall record, in what could be one of the most remarkable runs by a team in the 37-year-old league since the legendary Crispa Redmanizers ended up with a 20-1 (win-loss) card in topping the 1980 All Filipino Conference. The Tropang Texters actually strung up 12 straight victories bridging the eliminations, semifinals, all the way to Game 1 of the Finals. Fresh from conquering the Philippine Cup, Talk 'N Text dropped a 103-98 decision against guest team Smart-Gilas in its debut game in the mid-season tournament on February 25. It then went undefeated in its next seven games to arrange a semifinal showdown with surprising Air21 Express, whom the Tropang Texters easily disposed of in the best-of-three series. They then faced crowd favorite Ginebra in the Finals with the Kings experiencing the Texters' full might and fell to a 3-1 series deficit before losing it all in Game 6. That second championship set the stage for the franchise to move closer to a coveted Grand Slam, a feat achieved by only three franchises in the more than three decades of Asia’s pioneering pro league—Crispa (1976 and 1983), San Miguel (1989), and Alaska (1996). — JVP, GMA News