B-MEG coach Tim Cone can't stress enough the need for his charges to dig deep within themselves and
find the energy and intensity for an even better game.
So does his Talk N Text counterpart, Chot Reyes.
It is with such similar intents as backdrop that the Llamados and Tropang Texters square off anew
Wednesday in Game 2 of their PBA Commissioner's Cup championship duel at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
B-Meg took the best-of-seven series opener 88-82 last Monday after making the defensive stops while
pouncing on TNT's atrocious shooting from both the stripes and the field.
How to follow that act up is Cone's main concern.
"I've said it before, that for us to win back-to-back games takes extra effort," said Cone.
His own players finding the will and touch following a dismal performance gnaws at Reyes.
The Texters made only 29 of 75 field attempts but it was his team's 16-for-36 foul shooting,
including a 3-for-10 clip in the decisive fourth period, that rankled Reyes most.
"in the crucial moments we kept missing," said Reyes. "We had too many turnovers, missed too many
shots, and they outrebounded us. But in the end, if we missed 10 less free throws than we did we
could have won.
"That's basketball. We need to put that ball through the hoop. In this game, we just couldn't."
Cone, however, won't be so easily deceived and knows there are other areas Reyes and his staff would
be working on.
"They'll look at the tapes, see what we've been doing, the pick-and-rolls, and also what we're
trying to take away. They'll see those," said Cone.
"I've always felt the loser in a series has the advantage coming into the next game," he added.
"They will make the adjustments and we have to make quick reactions in the course of the game. It
could be difficult doing that. They have 48 hours to decide what to do."
Cone and his staff will also be looking at the tapes and would sure be having the Llamados
sharpening their three-point shooting after making only 1-for-8 to the Texters' 8-for-25 clip from
beyond the arc. Free throw shooting should be on one corner of his mind.
"It was real kind of reversal," said Cone, whose charges went 5-for-13 from the stripe in the fourth
period after missing just four of 10 in the entire first half.
"In the first half, they missed 10 free throws. We're really lucky, for in the second half they
started making and we started missing those free throws."
B-Meg also did not get to the line in third period while TNT made seven of 10 charities that helped
raze the Llamados' 48-40 halftime lead and install the Texters ahead, 67-62, going into the fourth.
Then the defending champion's sour shooting returned and not only from the stripe. In the first
seven minutes of the final canto, the Texters went 0-for-6 from the field and 2-for-6 from the
stripe, helping fuel the Llamados' surge to a 77-69 lead.
Despite their woes the Texters still managed to keep within 82-86 and got given a lease on life when
Denzel Bowles almost ruined a 25-point, 11-rebound performance with two missed charities in the
final 30 seconds.
But the Texters bade their bid goodbye by going 0-for-2 from the field and committing a turnover the
rest of the way, in the process totally stoking Reyes' frustrations. (NC)
Source: http://www.pba.ph/news/entry/1545
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