Rough, tough Game 7 today

MANILA, Philippines - In a game that may turn ugly if certain individuals do what they say they will, Alaska Milk and Talk n Text clash for one last time to dispute the KFC PBA Philippine Cup championship today at the Araneta Coliseum.

The yours-or-mine setto is set at 7 p.m., and it promises to be a real all-out battle with both protagonists seemingly determined to win the coveted crown at all costs.

Alaska coach Tim Cone has even issued a warning of grave consequence to Macmac Cardona if he doesn’t keep his antics on check.

Talk n Text team manager Frankie Lim took up the cudgels for Cardona yesterday, making his own threat to the Alaska mentor.

“Tim must be resorting to mind game as a desperate move to win. But if that (Cone’s statement to Cardona) is a serious threat – he ordering his players to send Macmac on the floor head first, I’ll make sure he hit the floor head first maybe two or three times more than what Macmac gets,” said Lim.

“Tim is a master of psychological tactics. He has a short memory that LA Tenorio and Willie Miller showed the same passion as Macmac. His players are no saints. They also taunt our players but they didn’t hear from us. Now, if Tim thinks they can floor Macmac, they have to floor the whole team. We’ll not back down,” Lim also said.

“Sinisindak nya ang players namin, eh hindi naman sya nakakasindak,” added the feisty Talk n Text team manager who curiously played under Cone at Alaska for quite sometime in the 90s.

“I’m sad coach Tim is angry with me. I have high respects for him. I’m just being me, passionate in the game,” said Cardona.

If both teams concentrate on the game, it could well boil down to who has the greater desire and determination to win the series backed by Alaska, Talk n Text, Solar Sports, Dickies, Araneta Center and Gateway Cineplex 10.

“This is a situation where the truism comes through. It’s really about self-motivation. I mean I can motivate them, management can motivate them, but in situations like this, it’s really the players’ own motivation, their inner motivation, their desire to give their best, their desire not to lose, and we’re going to find out who has that in this game,” said Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes.

“It’s been a touch-and-go series. We win two, they win two, we win one, they win one. So Game Seven is up for grabs,” said Cone.

Alaska is looking to tie Crispa (with 13 titles) at second place behind San Miguel (with 17 crowns) in the list of teams with the most number of championships.

The Aces hope to nail a fourth All-Filipino crown while the Texters are out to nail only a second championship for the PLDT franchise.

Also up for grabs tonight is the Mighty Bond Finals MVP trophy.

It’s a wide-open race among Alaska Aces Joe Devance, Sonny Thoss, LA Tenorio and Willie Miller and TnT Texters Macmac Cardona, Jimmy Alapag and Harvey Carey.

Miller’s numbers may have gone down in the title series but he’s in the race for the Finals MVP plum being Alaska’s biggest savior in Games Two and Five. The two-time season MVP awardee averaged 14.6 points, 6.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds through the first six games of the series.

Devance averaged 15.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists, Thoss normed 14.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists while Tenorio logged averages of 11 points, 4.8 rebounds and seven assists.

Carey, a great energy source for TnT, was the only player averaging in double double in the series with norms of 12.2 points and 11.2 rebounds. Cardona is sharing 19.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per outing while Alapag contributes 17.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals a game.