Games Today (Mall of Asia Arena)
5:45 p.m. – Barako Bull vs Petron
8 p.m. – San Mig vs TNT
Manila, Philippines – Talk ’N Text is one team whose second unit is as good, if not better than the first five of the three other teams in the league.
Despite that, TNT coach Norman Black knows something is missing as they start the hard part in their drive for an unprecedented four-peat in 2014 PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup playoffs.
While the Tropang Texters have a surplus of star players, they lack a player who can provide an instant spark when the going gets tough.
With that in mind, they negotiated and succeeded – as expected – in taking Rommel “KG” Canaleta knowing the streak-shooting and slam-dunking forward can play a big role in their four-peat bid starting with their quarterfinal series today with San Mig Coffee at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Pasay City.
The Tropang Texters obtained Canaleta from Air21 in exchange for Sean Anthony and rookie Eliud Poligrates, a trade Commissioner Chito Salud considered as very fair.
The 6-foot-5 Canaleta averages nearly 17 points – thanks to his being a 30 percent three-point shooter. He also normed 6.3 rebounds per game.
TNT is Canaleta’s fourth team since he was selected by Air21 (sixth overall) during the 2005 PBA Rookie Draft. But he traded later to San Mig Coffee (formerly Purefoods/B-Meg) and then to Barangay Ginebra before being shipped back to Air21 late last season.
With Canaleta around, plus the team’s old timers like Jason Castro, Jimmy Alapag, Larry Fonacier and Ranidel de Ocampo, Black believes TNT can now compete with anybody – even against Ginebra which boasts of Mark Caguioa, and “Twin Towers” Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. (Waylon Galvez)