2014–15 Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters season

2014–15 Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters season
Head coach	Jong Uichico
Owner(s)	Smart Communications (an MVP group subsidiary)
Philippine Cup results Record 8–3 (.727) Place 4th Playoff finish Semifinalist (Lost to San Miguel, 0-4) Commissioner's Cup results Record 8–3 (.727) Place 2nd Playoff finish Champions vs. Rain or Shine 4-3 Governors' Cup results Record 5–6 (.455) Place 10th Playoff finish Did not qualify Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters seasons 2013–14 2015–16

The 2014–15 Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters season is the 25th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Key dates

• July 9: Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters head coach Norman Black was moved to the Meralco Bolts, replacing Ryan Gregorio as head coach. Replacing Black in Talk 'N Text is assistant coach Jong Uichico.^[1]
• August 24: The 2014 PBA Draft took place in Midtown Atrium, Robinson Place Manila.
• January 9, 2015: Jimmy Alapag formally announced his retirement during a press conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum prior to the second game of the 2014–15 PBA Philippine Cup Finals between the Alaska Aces and the San Miguel Beermen.^[2][3][4]
• March 5: The team retired the jersey number of Jimmy Alapag during the All-Star Weekend, where he was also added as the 13th man of the South All-Stars.^[5]

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	PBA D-League team	College
2	8	Harold Arboleda	F	Philippines	Jumbo Plastic Linoleum Giants	Perpetual

Roster

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # POB Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From F/C 2 Washington, Jay 6 ft 6.5 in (1.99 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1981-11-10 Eckerd F 4 Carey, Harvey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1979-03-18 Sonoma State G 6 Alas, Kevin  (R/IN) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1991-11-13 Letran G 9 Labagala, Robert 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1984-07-05 UE G 10 Reyes, Ryan Jay 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1983-08-10 Cal State Fullerton G 11 Miller, Willie 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1977-07-13 Letran G/F 12 Fonacier, Larry 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1982-05-13 Ateneo G 17 Castro, Jayson 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1986-06-30 PCU F 21 Williams, Kelly 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1982-02-07 Oakland G/F 22 Ganuelas-Rosser, Matt (R) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 1990-06-13 Cal Poly Pomona F 23 Espiritu, Elmer (IN) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1985-11-23 UE F/C 24 Reyes, Robert 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1983-03-16 Flagler F/C 33 De Ocampo, Ranidel (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1981-12-08 Saint Francis of Assisi F 42 Seigle, Danny 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1976-06-14 Wagner G/F 51 Aban, Aaron 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1982-04-08 Letran	Head coach Jong Uichico (La Salle) Assistant coach(es) Nash Racela (La Salle) Bong Ravena (UE) Michael Jarin Joshua Reyes (FEU) Team manager Jimmy Alapag (Cal State San Bernardino) Magnum Membrere (Ateneo) (Asst. Mgr.) Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie Injured Roster

Philippine Cup

Eliminations

Standings

{{2014–15 PBA Philippine Cup standings|team=TNT}}

Playoffs

Bracket

	Quarterfinals (1st phase)						Quarterfinals (2nd phase) (One-game playoff)					Semifinals (Best-of-7)					Finals (Best-of-7)
		(#3 twice to beat)
	3	Alaska		82
	10	NLEX		78
							3	Alaska	87
		(#6 twice to beat)					6	Meralco	69			3	Alaska	4
	6	Meralco		77								2	Rain or Shine	2
	7	Purefoods Star		65
																	3	Alaska	3
		(#4 twice to beat)															1	San Miguel	4
	4	Talk 'N Text		105
	9	Barako Bull		76								1	San Miguel	4
							4	Talk 'N Text	83			4	Talk 'N Text	0
		(#5 twice to beat)					5	Barangay Ginebra	67
	5	Barangay Ginebra		95
	8	GlobalPort		78

Commissioner's Cup

Eliminations

Standings

 y  – clinched twice to beat in the quarterfinals,  x  – clinched best-of-3 quarterfinals,  w  – clinched twice to win in the quarterfinals,  e  – eliminated

2015 PBA Commissioner's Cup
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Tie
1	y–Rain or Shine Elasto Painters	8	3	.727	—	1.025
2	y–Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters	8	3	.727	—	1.010
3	x–Purefoods Star Hotshots	8	3	.727	—	0.969
4	x–NLEX Road Warriors	6	5	.545	2	1.171
5	x–Meralco Bolts	6	5	.545	2	0.854
6	x–Alaska Aces	5	6	.455	3	1.021
7	w–Barako Bull Energy	5	6	.455	3	1.019
8	w–Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	5	6	.455	3	0.960
9	e–San Miguel Beermen	4	7	.364	4	1.011
10	e–GlobalPort Batang Pier	4	7	.364	4	0.995
11	e–Kia Carnival	4	7	.364	4	0.994
12	e–Blackwater Elite	3	8	.273	5

Playoffs

Bracket

	Quarterfinals						Semifinals (Best-of-5)					Finals (Best-of-7)
		(#1 twice to beat)
	1	Rain or Shine	92
	8	Barangay Ginebra	91
							1	Rain or Shine	3
		(Best-of-3)					5	Meralco	0
	4	NLEX	0
	5	Meralco	2
												1	Rain or Shine	3
		(#2 twice-to-beat)										2	Talk 'N Text	4
	2	Talk 'N Text	127
	7	Barako Bull	97
							2	Talk 'N Text	3
		(Best-of-3)					3	Purefoods Star	1
	3	Purefoods Star	2
	6	Alaska	0

Governors' Cup

Eliminations

Standings

 y  – clinched twice to beat in the quarterfinals,  w  – clinched twice to win in the quarterfinals,  e  – eliminated

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Tie
1	y- Alaska Aces	8	3	.727	—	1.065
2	y- San Miguel Beermen	8	3	.727	—	0.939
3	y- Rain or Shine Elasto Painters	7	4	.636	1	1.063
4	y- GlobalPort Batang Pier	7	4	.636	1	0.941
5	w- Star Hotshots	6	5	.545	2	1.315
6	w- Barako Bull Energy	6	5	.545	2	0.761
7	w- Meralco Bolts	5	6	.455	3	1.125
8	w- Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	5	6	.455	3	1.000
9	e- Kia Carnival	5	6	.455	3	0.954
10	e- Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters	5	6	.455	3	0.929
11	e- NLEX Road Warriors	3	8	.273	5
12	e- Blackwater Elite	1	10	.091	7

Bracket

	Quarterfinals						Semifinals (Best-of-5)					Finals (Best-of-7)
		(#1 twice to beat)
	1	Alaska	114
	8	Barangay Ginebra	108
							1	Alaska	3
		(#4 twice to beat)					5	Star	0
	4	GlobalPort	73	94
	5	Star	126	101
												1	Alaska	0
		(#2 twice to beat)										2	San Miguel	4
	2	San Miguel	99	102
	7	Meralco	106	86
							2	San Miguel	3
		(#3 twice to beat)					3	Rain or Shine	1
	3	Rain or Shine	134**
	6	Barako Bull	132

*Game went into overtime^[a]

^a The number of asterisks denotes the number of overtime(s) occurred.

Transactions

Trades

Pre-season

September 22, 2014[6]

To GlobalPort Nonoy Baclao and 2017 1st round pick (from Talk 'n Text)

To NLEX Harold Arboleda and 2018 2nd round pick (from Talk 'n Text via Globalport) 2016 2nd round pick (from Ginebra via GlobalPort)

To Talk 'N Text Jay Washington (from GlobalPort) Matt Ganuelas (from NLEX via GlobalPort)

October 2, 2014[7]	To Rain or Shine 2015 & 2019 2nd round picks	To Talk 'N Text Larry Rodriguez

October 9, 2014[8]

To Blackwater Larry Rodriguez and 2015 1st round pick (from Talk 'N Text)

To NLEX Niño Canaleta (from Talk 'N Text via Blackwater)

To Talk 'N Text Kevin Alas (from NLEX) 2015 1st round pick (from Blackwater)

Recruited imports

Tournament	Name	Debuted	Last game	Record
Commissioner's Cup	Richard Howell	January 28 (vs Rain or Shine)	February 15 (vs Ginebra)	4–1
	Ivan Johnson	February 20 (vs NLEX)	April 29 (vs Rain or Shine)	12–6
Governors' Cup	Steffphon Pettigrew	May 10 (vs Barangay Ginebra)	June 19 (vs Kia)	5–6
	Sam Daghles*	May 10 (vs Barangay Ginerba)	June 19 (vs Kia)	5–6

(* Asian import)

References

1. Norman Black moves to Meralco, Jong Uichico to take over Talk ‘N Text as MVP group shuffles coaches, Interaksyon.com, July 9, 2014
2. "Jimmy Alapag retires". Rappler. January 9, 2015.
3. Badua, Snow (January 9, 2015). "Jimmy Alapag retires, takes on new role as Talk 'N Text manager, Gilas assistant coach". spin.ph.
4. Lozada, Bong (January 9, 2015). "‘For me it’s time’, Alapag says as he retires". INQUIRER.net.
5. Fitting curtain call as Salud names Jimmy Alapag '13th man' of South team in PBA All-Stars, Snow Badua, spin.ph, January 30, 2015
6. Texters bag J-Wash, Ganuelas, Inquirer.net, September 22, 2014.
7. , Inquirer.net, October 2, 2014
8. Alas heads to TnT in 3-team trade deal philstar.com, retrieved October 9, 2014