BOTH CAMPS OPTIMISTIC OF MAKING IT ALL THE WAY

Game 5 Friday at the Astrodome Friday, 06 February 2009 Alaska coach Tim Cone readily dismisses the notion that the odds appear to have gone against the Aces, who have lost two games in succession. "Why would it be?" the Alaska coach asked He said it should not come as a surprise that Talk N' Text came back strong in Games 3 and 4 to tie the series because in the first place, "this is the way a championship should be. We are here to compete, to put our best on the floor." Cone said he is still confident the series will end in their favor and his troops share his optimism. Alaska won Games 1 and 2 and records show that 23 of 27 teams that took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Finals went on to win the series. TNT coach Chot Reyes doesn't seem alarmed by those records. "There's no more secrets and no more surprises for both camps. It's now a battle of wills. This series will be decided by which team wants it more," Reyes said. Game 5 of the 2008-09 KFC PBA Philippine Cup Finals is set at 7:00 p.m. Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome. The disappearance of LA Tenorio in Games 3 and 4 after a superb performance in the first two games obviously is felt by the team and the inability of Willie Miller, named Best Player of the Conference, to take over and lead the team hurt the Aces. Tenorio, who averaged 22 points and eight assists in the first two games, went scoreless in Game 3 and managed just eight points in Game 4. Miller is averaging 12 points in the series, down from his 16 points average in the semifinals. Cone attributed their loss in Game 3 to exhaustion, saying the toll of playing eight tough games dating back to their semifinal series with dethroned champion Sta. Lucia had sapped his troops' energy. That wasn't the case in Game 4. "It was a close game. We had our chances. But we couldn't hit our shots," offered Cone, who is one game away from becoming just the second coach in the league to record 600 wins after the legendary Baby Dalupan, who has 601 wins. Noticeably, the Tropang Texters are beating the Aces with the kind of game that has become the foundation of their success – D-E-F-E-N-S-E. Since shifting its focus on defense, TNT has held the Alaska to 73 and 98 points respectively the past two games. It marked just the second time that TNT has held an opponent below 100 points in the playoffs since its high-scoring semifinal showdown with San Miguel. "The way were looking at it now, defense is keying our wins. If we could keep it we'll be in good shape," Reyes said. "But Friday boils down to which team has gas left in the tank." (DBC)