Texters, Beermen gun for semis berths vs separate foes

Talk ‘N Text and San Miguel gun for semifinals slots today against two separate teams fighting for survival in the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum. The Tropang Texters, seeded No. 1 at the end of eliminations for compiling one of the two best records at 11-3, clash with the eighth-ranked Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 4 p.m. curtain raiser. Then the No. 2 Beermen try to end Air21’s campaign when they tangle in the main game two hours later. Both the Texters and the Beermen need only to win on Sunday to advance to the semifinals, their incentive for finishing 1-2 in the classification phase. A loss by both, however, will force sudden-death situations on Friday. But for Texters mentor Chot Reyes, the playoffs already began in their last outing against Air21, which they won, 103-89. “We approached our last game as the start of a best-of-three, so we need to approach this one as the decider if we want to enter the semis," said Reyes. The winner between the Tropang Texters and Elasto Painters will meet the winner of the Derby Ace-Meralco best-of-three series, while the survivor between the Beermen and Express set up a semifinal duel with the winner of the Ginebra-Alaska match up. One thing also going for Talk ‘N Text is the fact that it will be facing a Rain or Shine team whose top gunner, Sol Mercado, is playing with a foot injury. But just the same, Elasto Painters coach Caloy Garics said they will give the league’s No.1 team a good fight. “We have some injured players but we will be going to play all-out tomorrow," he said. “We’re ready for TNT. We had two close games against them. We feel we match up well against them and we play the same style." Reyes said that although they swept Rain or Shine in the elimination round, he remains cautious of the Elasto Painters. “We’ve had problems with Rain or Shine in the past." – JVP, KY, GMANews.TV