Dynasty or redemption

MANILA, Philippines - Like  a typical Hollywood ending, the climax finds two opposing forces settling their issues in a showdown at sunset. That’s the way it is in the league too tough to die, borrowing from the immortal description of the Wild West town Tombstone Territory.

Tonight, Talk ‘N’ Text and Petron will slug it out one last time for all the marbles in the clinching Game 7 of the PBA Governors Cup finals. No more tomorrows. For both teams, it’s do or die with the winner taking it all and the loser biting the dust. Fans couldn’t ask anything more from a title series. The pendulum has swung both ways. Five games were decided by twin-digit margins and only the opener was a close one but every single contest has been a nail-biter.

The drama that has unfolded is just like in the movies. There was speculation that Talk ‘N’ Text tanked its last game of the semifinals to choose which team to play in the finals. Texters coach Chot Reyes has vehemently denied the allegation. Petron ended the semifinals in a tie with Alaska and Barangay Ginebra but made it to the Last Dance by virtue of a superior quotient. The odds were heavily stacked against the Blaze. Hardly anyone gave Petron a chance to capture the crown and winning just a game in the best-of-seven series was considered a minor miracle. But in Game 1, the Blaze shocked the pants out of the oddsmakers as veteran Danny Ildefonso hit a buzzer-beater to lift Petron to an 89-88 decision. Petron import Anthony Grundy issued the pass that led to the decisive basket and stamped his class with a sensational triple double showing – 17 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists.

But the Texters roared back to blast Petron, 103-85, in Game 2 as their awesome bench fired 52 points to the Blaze relievers’ 20. Talk ‘N’ Text’s volume offense made the difference as the Tropa hit 35-of-85 from the field compared to Petron’s 30-of-66. Compounding Petron’s woes was its atrocious performance from the line, hitting only 19-of-38. The final margin of difference was 18 and the Blaze missed 19 free throws.

Game 3 was another Talk ‘N’ Text blowout, 132-105. Once again, the Tropa’s bench spewed venom, erupting for 69 points to Petron’s 31. The Texters were in their element, mowing down Petron with 25 fastbreak points and dominating the boards, 45-38. At the end of the rout, Petron coach Ato Agustin put his arm around counterpart Chot Reyes and challenged him to a fistfight. When Reyes said he wouldn’t waste his time dignifying Agustin’s dare, the Petron coach asked, “bakla ka ba?” The conversation was big news all over town and fired up the bitter war between the coaches.

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Petron recoiled to stun Talk ‘N’ Text in Game 4, 105-83, as the Blaze bench uncharacteristically outscored the Texters’ storm troopers, 37-32. Agustin’s charges clamped down on defense and held Talk ‘N’ Text to only 83 points and .378 shooting from the field. Only Castro and Reyes hit in twin digits among the Tropa’s locals.

When Castro went down with a right knee injury and sat out Game 5, Petron seized the golden opportunity to take the driver’s seat. The Blaze played unforgiving defense to hold Talk ‘N’ Text to only nine points in the first period and won, 93-80. The Texters shot a lowly .333 from the field and were so out of synch that Petron even had more fastbreak points, 23-11. Scottie Reynolds had a forgettable five points, five rebounds and five assists. Jimmy Alapag and Reynolds were a combined 0-of-12 from three-point range. Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo didn’t start for the first time in the finals and the Texters paid dearly for the tweak.

Reyes immediately gave Reynolds the pink slip. There was no choice. After five games, Grundy had outscored Reynolds, 108-56, and the discrepancy in the quality of their performance was glaring. An hour before Game 6 began last Friday, Reynolds was on a plane flying back to the US.  Reyes reactivated Maurice Baker who was the Texters’ original import. He stuck around after Reynolds took over his slot starting the semifinals and couldn’t wait to prove himself worthy of Reyes’ confidence.

In Game 6, the Reynolds syndrome hit Grundy like a knockout punch. Grundy was limited to only five points in his worst showing in a Petron uniform, maybe in any uniform. He went 0-of-6 from three-point distance, like Reynolds did in Game 5, and was 2-of-13 from the floor in 40 minutes. If Reynolds sucked in Game 5, Grundy stunk in Game 6. Castro was back in form and announced his reentry by scoring 13 of his 19 points in the first period to set the tone. In every quarter, Reyes unveiled a hero to take charge. De Ocampo exploded for 11 in the second. Baker went berserk with 14 in the third and Alapag delivered 11 in the fourth. Arwind Santos tallied 19 for Petron but only three in the second half. The Texters’ bench regained its bearings, scoring 39 points to the Blaze’s 24. What broke Petron’s resolve was the Tropa’s three-point shooting. The Texters knocked down 15 triples. And they punctuated the win by cleaning up the boards, 56-38.

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There’s no question that for Petron to win Game 7, the Blaze must play stifling defense and for Talk ‘N’ Text to claim the coveted Grand Slam, the Texters must be unstoppable on offense. In Petron’s three wins, they’ve held the Tropa to an average of 83.7 points. In the Texters’ three wins, they’ve averaged 113 points. Controlling the tempo is the key. A defensive game will mean a drag-out, lock-down battle with Petron slowing the pace and keeping the scores low. An offensive game will favor Talk ‘N’ Text with a lot of open-court opportunities and three-point connections.

Rebounding will allow a team to dictate the flow of the game.  In every contest so far in the finals, the winning team had the edge in rebounds.

How Baker and Grundy match up will be decisive. Baker did a super job throwing off Grundy’s rhythm in Game 6. He’ll have to do it again to seal Petron’s fate. Grundy, however, isn’t likely to have two off-nights in a row.

In the Philippine Cup finals, Talk ‘N’ Text beat Petron, then playing as San Miguel Beer, in six games. Petron wants redemption. The Texters, on the other hand, are a title away from bagging a Grand Slam. The Tropa claims it’s destiny calling. A Grand Slam will install Talk ‘N’ Text as only the fourth PBA franchise ever to achieve the feat while Petron is gunning for its 19th conference championship.  Only one team will be left standing at the final buzzer tonight. Whichever team that is will go down in PBA history as being destined or redeemed.