Talk 'N Text takes Giles-less Smart Gilas to school

Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes finally scored one over Serbian counterpart Rajko Toroman. The Tropang Texters got a big break in the form of a limited playing time for CJ Giles as they routed the RP-Smart Gilas team, 103-70, for a share of the lead in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Astrodome Wednesday.

The game marked the second straight time Talk ‘N Text held an opponent below 80 points after beating Rain or Shine in its opening match (85-76). The Tropang Texters limited the Nationals to a paltry 35 percent shooting going 28-of-80 from the field. The win evened things up for Reyes and Toroman, the mentor of the RP-Smart Gilas team, who initially engaged each other during the 2007 FIBA-Asia men’s basketball championship in Tokushima, Japan. Toroman, then calling the shots for Iran, beat Reyes and the San Miguel-RP team, 75-69, in the opening game of the meet serving as qualifier for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But for Reyes, everything is water under the bridge now, stressing the game with the Gilas squad is the Tropang Texters’ way of helping the national team’s cause. “The best way we can help this team is to play hard," said Reyes. “Largely we were able to execute our game plan, which was to disrupt their offense. We devised a couple of different defenses because we know Gilas executes well on offense." The 33-point victory was likewise the biggest in almost five months, or since Ginebra trampled Rain or Shine, 114-71, last May 24. Smart-Gilas dropped its second straight game, largely due to Giles seeing action for merely five minutes. The player being groomed for naturalization got news from his mother before the game that his four-year-old son had been diagnosed with a life-threatening blood disorder. “We are not 30 points better if Giles was there," said Reyes. For the second straight game, Mac-Mac Cardona led the Texters in scoring. He scattered 16 points while Jimmy Alapag added 14. Jared Dillinger and Jason Castro each added 10 while Ali Peek collected a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Mark Barroca finished with 16 points and JV Casio and Japeth Aguilar had 14 apiece. Aguilar also added 14 rebounds and two blocks but committed seven turnovers. Smart Gilas led only once throughout the one-sided contest, 3-2. But big TNT runs in the second and third quarters took the fight out from the Nationals, who are being fine-tuned to compete for a slot in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. A 17-4 assault from a 27-26 count in the second period and then a 19-4 blast at the start of the third gave the Texters a 65-40 advantage with 6:54 left. – GMANews.TV