Job cut out for TnT’s Honeycutt

Talk n Text brings back old import Jerald Honeycutt, with all his heft, height and hustle, to replace Randy Holcomb in the Phone Pals outing against the Coca-Cola Tigers in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference.

Honeycutt makes another comeback stint in the local pro league today as the Phone Pals meet the Tigers for the first time after their titular collision in the Reinforced Conference last year.

They play at 6:30 p.m. at the Makati Coliseum, after the 4:10 p.m. tiff between the Purefoods Hotdogs and the FedEx Express.

Arriving only yesterday, Honeycutt has a job cut out for him as he tangles with Mark Sanford who is raring to redeem himself after turning from hero to goat in their sorry loss to the Shell Turbochargers the last time out.

"It was a tough loss. I lost it," rued Sanford after their 98-100 loss in overtime to the Turbochargers. The high-scoring Coca-Cola import had a chance to win the contest in regulation play but missed a short jumper with six seconds left in the clock.

Curiously, Honeycutt and Sanford were both picked in the second round in the NBA rookie draft in 1997 that featured future stars Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady and Keith Van Horn among others.

Honeycutt feels he has an unfinished business in the PBA after falling short in his bid to lead the Phone Pals to the championship in 2002 Commissioner’s Cup. Honeycutt, import partner Pete Mikeal and the Phone Pals lost the championship to the Red Bull Thunder in a Game Seven thriller.

After a 3-0 start, the Phone Pals have slowed down in the PBA transition tourney, losing two of their last three games to the San Miguel Beermen and the Alaska Aces.

And the team had realized they needed an import who could provide imposing presence at the paint with the team missing the services of Harvey Carey. Holcomb proved to be more of a small forward type of player.

Talk n Text (4-2) is out to regain solo third place while Coca-Cola (3-3) out to force a tie at fourth place with the Phone Pals.

In the curtain-raiser, both Purefoods (2-4) and FedEx (1-4) seek to improve their placings in the lower-half of the chart.

The Express broke into the win-column only last Saturday on an auspicious debut by import Mike Maddox, leading the team to an overtime win over the Shell Turbochargers.