Alaska ready to face Talk 'N Text

Banged up and all, Alaska Milk coach Tim Cone is not intimidated to face a well-rested Talk ’N Text when they meet each other in the semifinals series of the PBA Fiesta Cup which starts this Wednesday.
After an excruciating quarterfinal series with crowd-darling Ginebra, Cone said they are little bit tired but hopes that their enthusiasm and the challenge to beat oneof the rising powers in the league will carry them through the top once again.

Still, Cone believes that Talk ’N Text enjoys a slight advantage since some of his players are still recuperating from various injuries.

"We are coming off a tough series and we are a little banged up and we had some guys that are just coming back from injuries so they have an advantage in the first game or two," Cone said.

"But we just have to battle, stick it out and go deeper to our bench and see if we can get some guys who can surprise them,” Cone said. “But you know Talk N' Text is formidable but we are not afraid of them."

The Tropang Texters got the luxury of resting for close to two weeks after topping the classification phase with a 15-3 record – a performance highlighted by a 13-game winning run.

Judging their performance against the Gin Kings, the Aces won’t be an easy prey. Alaska, for one, has the height, speed and firepower.

Expected to lead the Aces are Cyrus Baguio, LA Tenorio, Joe Devance and import Diamon Simpson – the same players who keyed the team’s 93-91 thriller over the Kings in their do-or-die showdown last Sunday.

Out of a broken play, Devance and Simpson conspired for one telling assault that silenced the Ginebra fans.

In that play, Devance passed the ball against two defenders from the three-point area into an open Simpson, made an easy shot before Baguio came through with a defensive gem, stripping the ball away from the driving Eric Menk with almost no time left.