Aces brace for Texters fightback

Alaska Milk is raring to come out stronger and play better tonight, wary of a determined Talk n Text comeback in Game Two of their KFC PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven final showdown at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Aces expect a big challenge from the Tropang Texters in the 7 p.m. contest with Ranidel de Ocampo returning from a game suspension and LA Tenorio likely to be a marked man after a career-best performance in leading Alaska to a 102-95 victory in the series opener Wednesday.

“You try to win the first one then you try to win the second one. We know it’s going to be tough but we hope to be ready for their comeback,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

Talk n Text will try to get even with De Ocampo back, providing the Tropang Texters a needed match-up for Sonny Thoss or Joe Devance who churned out huge numbers in Game One of the series supported by Alaska, Talk n Text, Dickies, Solar Sports and the Araneta Center.

Thoss came through with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Devance contributed 14 points and five rebounds as the Texters missed the services of De Ocampo who average 13.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists an outing.

Jimmy Alapag and Jason Castro could also wage a personal battle after being badly outclassed by Tenorio Wednesday.

The former Ateneo stalwart had a sterling showing in the series opener, sizzling with a career-high 27 points that went with eight rebounds and six assists.

Alapag, on the other hand, struggled with a 4-of-16 field-goal shooting, finishing with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. In the semifinals, the Tokushima Asian championship veteran led Talk n Text with an average of 18.7 points.

Cone, however, thought the bigger factor Wednesday was the Aces being able to impose its tempo in the contest.

“They (the Texters) played great at the start, scoring 30 points in the first quarter and it was a bit scary. We knew we couldn’t let them do those stuffs. Good thing, the guys recovered and did things we have to do,” said Cone.

“It’s fun for the players to play up-tempo. We lost our discipline couples of time but the guys recovered, did the defensive stops and played our game,” Cone added.

Reyes thought they were able to hold their own against Alaska in a halfcourt game but lost on 27 turnovers.

“We played pretty good halfcourt defense but couldn’t stop their fastbreak off our turnovers. Against Alaska, which is a well-disciplined team, it’s hard to come back from a deficit given on turnovers. They will make you pay for your mistakes. We committed 27 turnovers and that’s the key,” Reyes said.

Curiously, Talk n Text top gun Macmac Cardona accounted for eight of those errors. The Best Player of the Conference candidate made only 14 points on 1-of-12 shooting from the three-point area and 5-of-9 from the two-point zone.