Texters to rest Kelly?

Talk ‘N’ Text coach Norman Black may decide to relegate Kelly Williams to the reserve list and activate either Ali Peek or Rob Reyes for the crucial Rain Or Shine game in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena tomorrow night.

Under league rules, a player on the reserve list may be placed on active status the day before reporting for a game. If the game falls on a Sunday, the deadline is 12 noon the day before on a Saturday. If the game falls on a Saturday, the deadline is 5 p.m. the day before on a Friday. If Black intends to activate either Peek or Reyes for tomorrow’s contest, he has to advise the PBA by 5 p.m. today.

Texters team consultant Andy Jao said Williams may sit out one or two games to rest his heel. “I think it’s bruised,” said Jao. “Hopefully, not plantar (fasciitis) which is painful, may be out for a game or two. Rain Or Shine has a good chance to be No. 2. If you want to activate for Saturday, you must inform (the PBA) by Friday (so) I guess we have until (today). (Since) Kelly has problems with his heel, we may have to consider Ali or Rob.”

Williams started the Texters’ game against Air 21 at center last Wednesday but logged only 12 minutes, finishing scoreless on 0-of-4 from the floor and 0-of-2 from the line with four rebounds. With the outcome unsettled down the stretch, Williams sat on the bench. The Fil-Am “Machine Gun” didn’t play in the second half and would’ve contributed to the Tropa’s cause if he could. As it turned out, the Express eked out a 102-100 win, dropping the Texters’ record to 7-4.

The loss to Air 21 exposed Talk ‘N’ Text’s gaping hole in the middle. Black used Ranidel de Ocampo, Nonoy Baclao, Williams and even Sean Anthony to play the five position. De Ocampo is more suited at three or four, the same with Anthony. Williams is a natural four. Baclao is an undersized center who could use a little more muscle. Against Air 21, Baclao did a solid job limiting Asi Taulava’s touches in the second half. He scored nine points in the third period, working the pick-and-roll and beating Taulava to the step in moving to the basket. Baclao’s inexperience, however, showed in the dying seconds when he bobbled a pass from De Ocampo inside the paint and caused a turnover.

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Taulava had 11 points in the first period, six in the second then sputtered with four in the third and only two in the fourth. While Taulava’s productivity dropped precipitously in the late going, he had done enough damage early to set up Air 21’s upset win. Taulava wound up with 23 points and 18 rebounds. Black could’ve surely used Peek or Reyes to hold down his numbers.

Reyes has yet to play this conference after moving in during the offseason from Air 21. He appears to be fully recovered from an ACL injury but is in the Tropa’s reserve list as under PBA rules, a team may put only up to five Fil-Ams on its active roster. Peek played three games to start the Philippine Cup then was dropped to the reserve list to make room for Danny Seigle. He has sat out the Texters’ last seven games.

The PBA will allow a player to be activated from the reserve list after a sit-out of at least two games so both Peek and Reyes may be tapped to play tomorrow if Black decides. The rule on an unrestricted free agent (UFA) is different. A team may relegate a UFA to the reserve list but is permitted to activate him only twice during a conference. After the second activation, the UFA must be signed for the rest of the conference.

Talk ‘N’ Text has seven Fil-Ams in its lineup – Seigle, Williams, Anthony, Jimmy Alapag, Harvey Carey, Peek and Reyes. Guard Ryan Reyes, who played at Artesia high school and California State at Fullerton, is considered a local.

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The Texters are in contention for a twice-to-beat advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They’ll need to end the eliminations at either No. 1 or No. 2 to nail the incentive. The loss to Air 21 dealt a blow to the Tropa’s hopes but the Texters aren’t out of it. They face the Painters tomorrow then San Mig Coffee on Jan. 17 and Ginebra San Miguel on Jan. 19 to complete their schedule in the eliminations. Right now, Ginebra is No. 1 at 9-2 and Talk ‘N’ Text is No. 4 at 7-4. Tied for No. 2 are Petron and Rain Or Shine with identical 8-3 records. Clearly, the Texters’ game against Rain Or Shine tomorrow is critical. And that’s why Black is seriously considering to elevate Peek or Reyes with Williams hurting.

The Texters need a post presence. Without a serious inside threat, the Tropa went to the three-point shot more often than usual against Air 21. When the smoke cleared, the Texters hit 14-of-33 triples compared to the Express’ 5-of-17. In the Texters’ previous game where they beat Alaska, 121-117, in overtime, they took 27 three-point shots. In their first meeting this conference, the Texters scuttled Air 21, 87-82, behind 13 triples. They almost repeated in the rematch but fell short by two points.

The Texters took 47 two-point shots and 33 three-point attempts – 40 percent of the attempts came from beyond the arc. The Express, in contrast, had 56 two-point and 17 three-point tries – only 23 percent from triple territory. Remarkably, the Tropa shot better from three-point range than the two-point distance, .424 to .404. But because the triple isn’t a high percentage shot, the Texters hit only .413 from the field to Air 21’s lofty .521. Peek or Reyes should be able to improve the Tropa’s field goal percentage as they both like to score from within 10 feet.

The race for the top two slots will be close. Air 21’s win last Wednesday also makes the battle to avoid finishing No. 9 or No. 10 a down-to-the-wire struggle.