Rude awakening

Call it a wake-up call or a rude awakening. Whatever, Talk ‘N’ Text coach Norman Black offered no excuses for the Tropa’s soft performance in losing Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals to San Mig Coffee at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Friday night.

“We were thoroughly outplayed,” lamented Black. It wasn’t the kind of effort you’d expect from a team coming off a five-day rest compared to a tired opponent that went through a grueling five-game semifinal series. The Mixers were pushed to the limit by Air21 before clinching a ticket to the Finals last Wednesday. But in Game 1, San Mig Coffee had a lot more spring, gas in the tank and energy to hack out a decisive 90-85 victory.

Was it the coffee that perked up the Mixers or coach Tim Cone? “I had nothing to do with it,” said a beaming Cone after the romp that snapped the Tropa’s 13-game winning streak this conference. “The day before, we were at the PBA press conference then in the afternoon, we had viewing for about an hour and a half. I asked the guys what drills they thought we should do to prepare for Talk ‘N’ Text. They came up with suggestions. We couldn’t go through them because everyone was just so tired out of the Air21 series. So we really didn’t do much at practice except watch video. But give it to the guys, they’ve been there before, they know how to get things done. It was a mental thing.”

The match-up between Black and Cone is as good as any match-up can get. They’re both grand slam coaches. Cone has captured 16 championships and Black, 11. They know what it feels like to be in the pressure cooker and emerge a winner. If you add Black’s five titles with Ateneo in the UAAP, he equals Cone’s collection of trophies. Coincidentally, they’re both 56 with Cone younger by a month.

Black said he saw no positives for Talk ‘N’ Text in Game 1, not even the relief of the pressure of preserving an unbeaten record to become the first team ever to sweep a PBA conference. He said the Tropa never even talked about the streak in the first place. The battlecry “Sweep 16” was coined by fans anticipating the Texters to go 16-0 in the conference. Although Black denied the pressure, Cone said it may have subconsciously put the Texters in a tight bind.

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“They weren’t sharp,” said Cone referring to the Tropa’s listless showing in Game 1 where the Texters uncharacteristically committed 21 turnovers. “They came in sitting on a 13-0 record from a five-day rest and I think it had an effect. They don’t usually play that way and I hope they play that way again in Game 2. But you can bet they won’t. They’ll be back.”

Black had no explanation for the fallout. “We’re leading the league in least turnovers then this happened,” he rued. “We saw things they did differently. We wanted to take them off the dribble. They switched on us and created mismatches. We’ve got to do a better job of breaking them down. We’ve got to play better as a team, stay aggressive. We lacked energy in Game 1. You look at Miami in the NBA playoffs. Look at the energy every guy brings to the floor. That’s how we’ve got to be.”

Black said losing by 15 in Game 1 isn’t a concern because a loss is a loss whether you lose by one or 15. “It’s just one game in a series and we’ve got a series to play,” he said. Cone had the same sentiment. “We can’t be overexcited about winning one game,” he said. But the Mixers will find added consolation from history as in 35 previous best-of-five Finals, the 23 teams that took Game 1 went on to clinch – so there’s a 65.7 percent chance of San Mig Coffee going all the way to the throne.

What bothered Black in Game 1 was import Richard Howell’s inability to manage his fouls. He was tagged with two quick fouls in the first period and it diminished his aggressiveness the rest of the way. Black said there is no excuse for Howell to give up useless fouls in the early going. “Richard should’ve known better,” said Black.

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When Howell played at North Carolina State, he was hounded by the same problem. In 2011-12, foul management was an issue with Howell as a Wolfpack junior. “As solid as his numbers were, they could have been considerably better had Howell been able to stay on the court for more than 27 minutes per game because of constant foul trouble,” wrote Brett Friedlander in the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. “He fouled out five times, four of which ended up as Wolfpack losses. He was saddled with four fouls on 13 other occasions, severely limiting the effectiveness of his physical presence inside. And the most frustrating thing about that pattern, says (coach Mark) Gottfried, is that a lot of the calls against him could have been avoided.”

Gottfried himself said Howell must learn how to manage his fouls. “The improvement for him is going to be how to play intelligently without the unnecessary fouling,” said Gottfried. “He’s as good as there is in the country at showing or hedging on ball screens but then he gets anxious and he wants to steal it and fouls at the top of the key. There is a level of discipline for him that he’s got to develop that stops him from eliminating himself sometimes.”

Howell, 23, was held to 11 points and 13 rebounds in Game 1. He entered the Finals averaging 21.4 points and 19.3 rebounds. Counterpart import James Mays also had a slow night, finishing with 10 points and 12 boards.

San Mig Coffee’s defense was unforgiving in the series opener and Cone said Mark Barroca had a lot to do with bothering Jayson Castro and Jimmy Alapag. Castro wound up with 17 points but shot only 3-of-15 from the floor while Alapag delivered three points on 1-of-3 field goals. As a team, the Texters hit a poor 36.2 percent from the field, a testament to the Mixers’ defense. Ranidel de Ocampo went 1-of-13 from the floor to underscore the Tropa’s woes. The defense also stifled the Talk ‘N’ Text’s passing game, forcing a lot of one-on-one plays and limiting the Tropa to only 13 assists compared to the Mixers’ 21. San Mig Coffee also pounced on the Texters’ turnovers to score 21 points off the miscues.

Game 2 should be extremely exciting. In a short best-of-five series, San Mig Coffee will open up a commanding 2-0 lead with another win tonight. That means if it happens, the Mixers will need only one more win to clinch while Talk ‘N’ Text must beat San Mig Coffee three in a row. The Texters are in a virtual must-win situation tonight.