PBA: Talk 'N Text overwhelms GlobalPort for share of second place

GlobalPort Batang Pier looked to establish themselves as a legitimate threat in the PBA Commissioner's Cup with a win over the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters. However, the veteran team showed them that they still have a lot to improve on before they reach that level. Talk 'N Text employed a choking defense on GlobalPort en route to an easy 99-79 victory, Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Texters showed tremendous poise in the second half by repeatedly quelling attempts by the Batang Pier to make it a close ball game. Coming off a scare against the Air21 Express in their last game, Talk 'N Text made sure that this one won't be as close. "We just wanted to give ourselves a chance to win and keep up with the leaders, especially with Alaska who's pulling away right now," said TNT head coach Norman Black. Black didn't allow former Tropang Texter Japeth Aguilar to get in any kind of rhythm on offense as he started the game with Ryan Reyes defending his former teammate. "We knew they play Japeth outside so we put a small guy on him to limit his dribbling," Black said of his strategy. As a result, Aguilar never got his game going, scoring only four points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field. The Tropang Texters also tightened up on their defense, allowing GlobalPort to convert on only 30.9 percent of their attempts from the field. The Batang Pier poured it on early in the game. Their import, Justin Williams, scored nine points in the the first quarter, punctuated by two slam dunks. Gary David was fouled while a taking three-point shot and his free throws gave his team a 17-11 advantage. Keith Benson and Ranidel De Ocampo took on the scoring role for TNT, but it was Jondan Salvador who closed out the quarter as he made a one-hander with 13.7 seconds left for a 27-22 GlobalPort lead. However, after making 47 percent of their shots in the first quarter, the GlobalPort Batang Pier would be held down to below 40 percent in the next three quarters as a testament to Talk 'N Text's premium on defense. "After our last game, we knew we were last on defense so we wanted to do better in the department," said Black, whose team gave up a league worst 91 points per game in their first two outings. "We couldn't stop them but we were able to control the performance of Sol [Mercado] and [Gary] David." The Tropang Texters made their move barely a minute into the second quarter, as GlobalPort's offense struggled with their starters resting. A three-point shot by Larry Fonacier was followed by a lay-up by Rabeh Al-Hussaini, the player whom TNT got in exchange for Aguilar, to tie the game at 27-all. A free throw by Fonacier at the 10:05 mark gave the Tropang Texters their first taste of the lead in the game at 28-27. He then extended it to four with another triple on the very next possession. Jondan Salvador finally broke the Batang Pier dry spell with a put-back off a Jason Deutchman miss. Sensing that his wards were groping for form, GlobalPort head coach Junel Baculi reinserted Mercado back into the line-up and he promptly canned a three to take the lead back. The two teams then exchanged baskets, culminating with a Jimmy Alapag fast break lay-up at the 6:49 mark of the second, for a 37-36 lead for the Tropang Texters. After a 4-0 run by GlobalPort, Alapag tied the ball game with a three-point shot. A free throw from Jayson Castro broke a 44-all count, but Mark Yee knotted the gamed again at the foul line. Dillinger and Benson then scored two quick baskets with less than a minute left in the game to give the Tropang Texters a 49-45 lead heading into the halftime break. GlobalPort's 18-point outing in the second quarter was a sign of things to come as they were held below 20 points per quarter for the rest of the game. Although GlobalPort still won the rebounding battle, the Tropang Texters kept it close and limited Williams to only 15 rebounds after getting 27 and 23 in their last two games. The Tropang Texters did not waste time adding on to their halftime lead. A triple from Jayson Castro at the 8:33 mark of the third gave Talk 'N Text their first double-digit lead. A vintage fast break three-point shot by Alapag then extended their advantage to 13. Four straight points from David and Williams cut their deficit back to single digits, but an Al-Hussaini jumper settled the score at 71-61 at the end of the third quarter. The Batang Pier struggled to hit their shots from the three-point area, usually one of their strengths. Mercado scored both of his team's only long-range conversions, but it took him eight tries to get those. David, on the other hand, missed all eight of his three-point attempts. GlobalPort was able to bring down the TNT lead to six, but free throws from Jared Dillinger and a lay-up from Castro brought it back up to 10 at 77-67. Another lay-up by Dillinger and a put-back by Al-Hussaini stretched the lead to 14 with 7:34 left in the game.   GlobalPort had multiple cracks at trimming down the lead, but Williams struggled with his free throws. Talk 'N Text, on the other hand, relied on Castro to add to their buffer. Another basket by Benson at the 5:22 mark of the fourth armed last conference's champs with an 89-71 lead. An Alapag fast break lay-up with 1:52 left in the game gave the Texters a 97-78 lead, prompting Black to empty out their bench. - RAF/AMD, GMA News