Sense of urgency

After Talk ‘N’ Text’s convincing 103-77 win over San Miguel Beer in Game 3 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference Finals at the Araneta Coliseum last Wednesday, Phone Pals assistant coach Ariel Vanguardia put things into perspective.

"Doesn’t mean anything if we don’t tie it up," said Vanguardia in a text.

Vanguardia is right.

The win avoided Talk ‘N’ Text falling into a 0-3 hole from which no team, either in the PBA or the National Basketball Association, has ever been able to crawl out of to win a championship in a best-of-7 series.

But if the Phone Pals lose in Game 4 tonight, the situation could be as dire as if in a 0-3 predicament.

Only two scenarios are possible when the smoke of battle clears tonight. Either the series is tied at two wins apiece or San Miguel opens a commanding 3-1 series advantage. The sense of urgency is telling on both camps.

First, as Vanguardia pointed out, the Phone Pals just can’t afford to go down 1-3 because it’ll mean having to beat the Beermen three in a row to bag the title. It’s hard enough to beat a tough team like San Miguel back-to-back but back-to-back-to-back looks almost like a mission impossible, particularly if all the Beermen have to do is win once in three tries to clinch the crown.

Second, a 2-2 count will put a lot of pressure on San Miguel, something coach Joseph Uichico isn’t too excited about. As PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon notes, two of the last three teams that took 2-0 leads in a best-of-7 Finals went on to lose the championship and the start of both tailspins came in Game 3.

Talk ‘N’ Text stormed back from a 0-2 deficit to sweep the next four games and upend Coca-Cola for the 2003 All-Filipino plum. Purefoods also rebounded from a 0-2 slump to beat Alaska in seven games for the 2002 Governors Cup diadem.

San Miguel’s consolation, however, is history is on its side. In seven of eight previous best-of-7 Finals where the Beermen opened with a 2-0 lead, they won the championship. Their only loss was to Toyota in a best-of-7 series that went the full route in the 1982 Reinforced Conference.

Besides, 18 of 21 teams that took 2-0 leads in a best-of-7 Finals proceeded to win the series. That’s a cool 86 percent clip.

Still, Uichico isn’t relying on history to survive the Phone Pals.

Broadcaster Dominic Uy said he found out before Game 3, San Miguel’s Olsen Racela brought a clipping of a recent STAR story reporting on Talk ‘N’ Text’s recovery from a 0-2 deficit to whip Coca-Cola in the 2003 All-Filipino Finals to a team practice as a reminder for import Ace Custis to keep his guard up.

No doubt, if there’s a team capable of rebounding from a 0-2 deficit to win a best-of-7 Finals, it’s Talk ‘N’ Text.

Last Wednesday’s demolition job was proof of the Phone Pals’ awesome bench depth. Talk ‘N’ Text’s shock troopers came out blasting from the pines to outscore their San Miguel counterparts, 39-23. Donbel Belano, filling in for an off-form Jimmy Alapag, delivered 13 points in 20 minutes and Harvey Carey, getting some mileage because of Asi Taulava’s foul trouble, chipped in 11 in 23. Mark Telan, who started Games 1 and 2, contributed nine in 24 as a reliever.

What was evident in Game 3 was Talk ‘N’ Text’s will to win. The Phone Pals were determined to match San Miguel’s raw intensity that propelled the Beermen to victory in Games 1 and 2. They were committed to limit their turnovers, to score more second chance points and to give up less free throws.

In Games 1 and 2, the Phone Pals averaged 23.5 turnovers, were badly outscored from the line, 34-of-44 to 15-of-29 and had only eight second chance points to San Miguel’s 27. In Game 3, Talk ‘N’ Text had only 11 errors (to San Miguel’s 17), surrendered only 11 free throw conversions (six less than San Miguel’s average in the first two games) and hit 15 second chance points (to San Miguel’s nine).

Taulava wasn’t a factor in Game 3 because of foul problems. But Banal never gave up on the Rock. Taulava wound up with five points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal in 21 minutes to show he’s slowly fitting in.

The field goal percentage stats made the difference and tilted the balance. The Phone Pals shot .518 to San Miguel’s .385 and that fueled their offensive surge. They failed to hit the 80-point mark in either Game 1 or 2 as San Miguel’s defense controlled the tempo. But in Game 3, the Phone Pals were unforgiving in scoring 103. It’s no secret that Talk ‘N’ Text thrives in a high-scoring game and San Miguel likes to play deliberate, slow-down and drag-out. The Phone Pals are 16-4 when scoring at least 90 points this conference while San Miguel is 15-2 when its opponents hit less than 90 and 2-8 when they total at least 90.

In Game 3, the shoe’s on the other foot. Now, it’s San Miguel’s turn to adjust and feel some pressure. The Beermen played listless defense last Wednesday, certainly not with the same intensity that caught the Phone Pals with their pants down in Games 1 and 2. They allowed Jerald Honeycutt to get off to a strong start and couldn’t match the Phone Pals’ second unit players’ energy level.

Uichico realizes it’s dangerous to give Talk ‘N’ Test an opening to tie the series. If Game 2 was a must-win for the Phone Pals, Game 3 is a must-win for the Beermen.

The stage is set for a humdinger tonight.