PBA Finals: When Jimmy is al-MIGHTY

It was the start of a virtual best-of-3 on Wednesday, winner gets on the hill for the right to the crown of the most prestigious cup of the season. The PBA Philippine Cup Finals was on it’s 5th game, and the 2-2 series saw close to 15,000 paying patrons troop to the Big Dome. After dropping the previous two games, Talk N’ Text started with some adjustments. Jason Castro took the spot of Jimmy Alapag, Ali Peek in lieu of Ranidel de Ocampo, and Larry Fonacier for Jared Dillinger. The Beermen were quick to adjust, bringing Dorian Pena in just seconds into the action to match up. Three minutes into the game, the Texters had to call an early timeout, and another 30-seconder a few minutes after that. Nothing was going the way of the Tropa... All they could muster was a season-low 14 points on 5/22 FGs by the end of quarter number one. San Miguel then scored the first 4 points of the second frame to stretch their lead to its largest at 17... The sea of yellow had a look of despair. Murmurs in the background were drowned out by the delirious ocean of red chanting San-Mi-Guel. Then the Mighty Mouse seemed to have awakened. After no points on 0/1 FG in the first, he started to take over. Looking like he needed to put the team on his shoulders, Alapag knocked in a 3-pointer, then another. Then he found De Ocampo and the duo looked to take the Beermen by the horns. Talk N’ Text rallied all the way to lock the score before Hontiveros knocked down a couple of threes of his own. But Jimmy was on a mission, looking to salvage their season. Took another long three and punched it through before finding Ryan Reyes to give them their first lead at 43-41 as the Energizer drained yet another triple. The Tropang Texters erupted for a series- and season-high 38 points in that 2nd chapter that was also highlighted by Peek’s tight bear hug on Pena in the dying seconds. As the halftime buzzer sounded, Talk N’ Text had turned a 17-point deficit into an 8-point advantage. Jimmy Alapag unloaded 12 points that included 3 triples, apart from dishing out 4 dimes in 11 minutes of 2nd quarter action. Another vintage Jimmy performance, this after averaging 11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in the first four games of the Finals. It’s not as if Alapag didn’t have it anymore; he did put up 33 points earlier in the season. He also registered 13 assists at one point, but his presence in the Finals has not really been as pronounced until that spectacular 2nd quarter. While the rest of the Tropa had their moments — Peek 9 pts, 7 rebs, 1 blk and that bear hug, Ranidel going for a season-high 20 points, Reyes once again playing inspired ball (10 pts, 7 rebs, 5 asts), and Larry Fonacier with his three consecutive trifectas that put the game away in the 4th — Jimmy Alapag once again proved who is this team’s Alpha Dog. With another game-changing explosion in the books, the Mighty Mouse came just 3 boards shy of a triple-double (16 pts, 7 rebs, 10 asts). And after the media obligation at the press room, all Jimmy had to say on the way to the locker room was “One more game, man, one more." The simplicity of what he said, the fire in his eyes as he said it... should strike fear in the hearts of the Beermen. The captain of the Tropa is more determined than ever, with both eyes on the prize: to wrap up that trophy come Friday night. - KY, GMANews.TV