Talk N Text is a team that is favored to do good for the past seasons of the Philippine Basketball Association. They always have a strong line-up, players who are considered Superstars. Even with the departure of Mac Cardona, arguably TNT's best scoring local before, the team still have Jimmy Alapag, Jared Dillinger, Harvey Carey, Ali Peek, Kelly Williams, Ryan Reyes, Jason Castro and Larry Fonacier.
And now, the team finally lived up to the expectations, being the number one at the end of eliminations, easily disposing Rain Or Shine in the quarterfinals and getting rid of the gutsy BMEG Derby Ace Llamados in a best of seven with series at 4-2. That series probably bring out the best out of TNT. They won not only because they have outscored their counterpart as they have done during eliminations, but also because they have learned to play defense and they have learned it the hard way. BMEG played gallantly and with a lot of heart. James Yap have forced TNT to play and rotate at least four guys against him. But to everyone's surprise, TNT's got the big help from the guy off the bench named Aaron Abril Aban. It's a bit unlikely. I personally believed Aban can give tough defense, but to someone smaller but faster than him, I really thought he will have difficulty. But regardless of the mismatch, Aban just showed everyone he can do it and do more. He didn't literally stop Yap from scoring but he made sure he'll make it difficult for him to score, even just getting the ball. Eventually Yap was still able to score but not enough to match TNT's scoring end. During the series, he got crucial rebounds and dived for loose balls whenever possible.And with Game 6 on the line, Aban contributed more than what was expected of him. He converted on those jump shots scoring 14 points from a 7-out-of-8 shooting. Yeah, he's definitely one of the guys that one team needs during these times. He's role in the team is as important as the best point guard that set-up the plays or the best scorer that gets the play. And if TNT continues to have these assistance from a guy like him, the Finals going to be a good one for them.
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