Daniels sparks Texters' rout of Aces with possible replacement watching

With a standby replacement watching at the sidelines, import Shawn Daniels played with enough urgency for Talk ‘N Text in Game 4 of its PBA Fiesta Cup semifinals series with Alaska. The end result? Daniels scored a team-high 13 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and outplayed counterpart Diamon Simpson in an 83-62 Tropang Texters blowout win of the Aces on Wednesday to level their best-of-seven affair at 2-2. The burly Talk ‘N Text import did his thing at the Astrodome while Omar Shariff Sneed watched Game 4 of the series behind the Texters bench. But unlike his four point, nine rebound effort in TNT’s 90-86 Game 3 loss, Daniels this time provided the spark lacking in his game and led the Tropang Texters’ first half breakaway that allowed them to control the tempo of the match. “I told him (Daniels) that we are getting someone to serve as his back-up because of his deteriorating performance," said Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes of his conversation with Daniels. “He better play like his life depended on it. So with this win, I’m now faced with a good problem. To be honest, I don’t know what to do." The European League veteran Sneed, a former player of Smart-Gilas Pilipinas coach Rajko Toroman in Belgium, arrived in Manila on Tuesday from the U.S. He is coming off a stint in Israel, playing for the Ironi Ashkelon ballclub where he averaged 15.3 points per game. Reyes said he’ll test Sneed during Thursday’s practice and then decide from there whether he’ll replace Daniels or not. “We brought him to give us options," said Reyes. “Things are so fluid at this point and we’re really not sure. That’s basketball. That’s the way of life here in the PBA." With Daniels holding his own against Simpson, who torched him and the rest of the Tropang Texters the last time with 31points and 20 rebounds, the Fiesta Cup’s top seeded team returned to its old deadly form and held the Aces to their lowest output in the last nine conferences. The Aces’ final score also ended up as the league’s lowest in the past three tournaments. Simpson finished with only 12 points and 14 rebounds. He limped his way with only nine field goals for the night and was held without a free throw after going 15-of-17 from the foul line in Game 3, almost half of Alaska’s 31-of-34 performance from the same spot. “The important thing is that Shawn stepped up and we limited their free throws," said Reyes. The Tropang Texters led by as many as 24 points, 67-43, following nine straight points from Jason Castro, who shared scoring honors with Daniels (13). Samigue Eman, playing his best game of the conference for the Aces, was the only local to finish in double figures for Alaska with 11 points, while key players Cyrus Baguio, Joe DeVance and LA Tenorio combined for 20 points on 8-of-27 shooting from the field. – JVP, GMANews.TV