Texters’ ‘easy’ rout of Gilas draws concern from PBA exec

There are some quarters in the Philippine Basketball Association apparently concerned with how “easy" the Talk ‘N Text team routed Smart Gilas national pool last Wednesay in the Philippine Cup. The Tropang Texters handily won over a short-handed Gilas side that played minus Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Chris Tiu and used American import CJ Giles sparingly, 103-70.

It was the second straight victory for Talk ‘N Text and the second consecutive setback for Gilas, a team with the same corporate backer. One team executive who declined to be identified raised concern over the matter. “Bakit mukhang pinadali? Walang bearing yan (outcome of the game) sa Smart Gilas, pero may bearing yan sa Talk 'N Text," said the team official. “Tapos, pagdating sa amin or sa ibang teams pupukpok sila (Gilas) nang husto." Smart Gilas is competing in the first round of the PBA Philippine Cup as part of its buildup for international tournaments such as the 2010 Asian Games and the 2011 FIBA Asia Championships. But the results of its games will count in the team standings of the regular ballclubs. There were reported efforts to bring up the matter during Thursday's PBA board of governors meeting but according to PBA treasurer and Rain or Shine representative Mamerto Mondragon, the board did not touch the issue. “The issue was never raised during the board meeting as per request by Talk 'N Text board representative Pato Gregorio, who said that they will come up with a statement (to the PBA board) on Friday," said Mondragon in a telephone interview. Smart Gilas will play its third game Friday against crowd favorite Ginebra and is reportedly not fielding in Giles. Whether or not Tiu and Al-Hussaini, former teammates with the Ateneo Eagles, will see action remains to be seen. Giles’ status with the national aspirants looks uncertain at this stage as he has to attend to his sick four-year-old son Jayden. - GMANews.TV