The road to the finals was not an easy one for the team, they went through the quarter finals round with a twice to beat advantage against the Air21 Express. Their game against the Express was nerve wracking, I thought for a second that they will have to go through the do or die game.
Then here comes the young and talented Alaska Aces team for the semifinals round. Alaska Aces is a totally different with the entry of their super rookie Calvin Abueva, they gave the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters a very good fight. A lot of people would say that the series will be over in four games but that wasn’t the case as the Aces proved to be a tough team to beat. It was definitely a beautiful series to watch with a handful of technical fouls, ejection, and sanctioned meted. At the end, it was the experience and composure of the team that won the series.
On the next - the finals, they will be up against another young and talented team – the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Having won their first ever championship trophy in the Governor’s Cup, the E-Painters are highly motivated to add another championship trophy to their collection. They are also wanted to prove to everybody that they can go all the way to the finals without an import.
These two teams will definitely try to do everything to get to be called the “champions” once again. For the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters, they are aiming for 3-peat that will enable them to take home prestigious Jun Bernardino trophy while the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters want to show that they are for real and not just a fluke.
As for the coaches, Norman Black is looking for his 11th PBA championships while Yeng Giuao wants to complete his collection with an All Fipino trophy.
Game one of the best of seven series will kick off on January 8, 2012 at the Smart Araneta Colisuem.
