Final 4 or bust for Texters, Kings

MANILA, Philippines - Talk n Text and Barangay Ginebra played in the season opener before a record crowd, and would have made a perfect pair in a blockbuster finale.

Instead, these bitter corporate rivals figure in a dream do-or-die battle for the last slot in the PBA Philippine Cup Final Four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

The Tropang Texters and the Gin Kings, two talented and experienced teams aching to be back in the title hunt, clash at 7 tonight, knocking each other out for the right to play the San Miguel Beermen in the best-of-seven semifinals.

It’s a match rich in subplots.

It’s MVP (Manny V. Pangilinan) versus RSA (Ramon S. Ang), Talk n Text’s talent-laden lineup against Ginebra’s star-studded roster, coaches Jong Uichico and Jeff Cariaso against their former teams, and Triangle Offense versus Dribble-Drive.

Both are title-hungry and both are highly motivated to win this much-anticipated battle.

“It will be a game of will and character. I’m excited. For sure, the fans will see a great game,” said Cariaso, among Talk n Text’s early stars in the league.

The Kings are out to survive and stay in the hunt for a first crown in six years while the Texters, the former Philippine Cup three-peat champs, look to keep their hopes of reclaiming the title they lost to the Purefoods Star Hotshots last year.

In a Cinderella ride in his new team, Uichico hopes to keep going versus the Ginebra team that he had handed two championships.

The Kings dominated the Texters, 101-81, on opening day, but Cariaso is convinced they’re playing a completely different Talk n Text team this time around.

“We’re going to see a really, really good team come Tuesday,” he said.

Cariaso believes that a lot have changed in two months since their matchup in the season opener at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

“They’re a very much different team than those we faced at the Philippine Arena. They’ve blended well, they have some good young guys in (Matt) Ganuelas-Rosser and (Kevin) Alas, and they also have the veterans who know how to win and have been together for a long time. It’s really going to be tough facing them,” Cariaso said.

The Texters have overcome a slow season start, narrowly missing an outright semifinal entry in winning seven of their last eight elims games.

They made it 8-1 last Friday in a 105-76 thrashing of the Barako Bull Energy in the initial stage of the quarterfinals.

Ginebra, meanwhile, wavered in the closing stage of the elims, winning only one of five games.

But the Kings appeared to be back in a great groove in a 95-78 drubbing of the Globalport Batang Pier also last Friday.

The Texters and the Kings are expected to try to impose their game against one another.

Ginebra thrives on a half court game, setting up a Triangle Offense anchored on big men Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar.

Talk n Text, meanwhile, banks largely on stalwarts Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag, Ryan Reyes, Ranidel de Ocampo, Harvey Carey, Rosser and Alas in playing their dribble-drive offense.