2002 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals

The 2002 Samsung-PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals was the best-of-7 basketball championship series of the 2002 PBA Commissioner's Cup and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The Batang Red Bull Thunder and Talk 'N Text Phone Pals played for the 82nd championship contested by the league. [1]

2002 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals

Team Coach Wins Batang Red Bull Thunder Yeng Guiao 4 Talk 'N Text Phone Pals Bill Bayno 3
Dates	September 6–20, 2002
Television	Viva TV (IBC)
Radio network	DZRH

Batang Red Bull Thunder wins their 2nd PBA title and retain the crown they won in the same conference last season with a 4-3 series victory over the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals. [2]

Series scoring summary

Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7	Wins
Red Bull	100	96	71	89	55	86	67	4
Talk 'N Text	102	86	80	81	77	78	60	3

Games summary

Game 1

Viva TV

September 6

recap

Batang Red Bull Thunder 100, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 102
Scoring by quarter: 26–22, 22–27, 21–29, 27–24
Pts: Julius Nwosu 22		Pts: Jerald Honeycutt 32 Pete Mickeal 31
Talk 'N Text leads series, 1-0

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City

Jerald Honeycutt poured 22 of his 32 points in the final half as the Phone Pals dictated the tempo up to the last minute. Lordy Tugade drilled three straight triples to push the Thunder to within 98-101, but wrong decisions in the end dash their bid, Tugade converted a twinner with three seconds left instead of shooting a potential game-tying triple.

Game 2

Viva TV

September 8

recap

Batang Red Bull Thunder 96, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 86
Scoring by quarter: 30–17, 16–25, 30–22, 20–22
Pts: Antonio Lang 37		Pts: Pete Mickeal 20
Series tied, 1-1

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Tony Lang turn in a game-high 37 points and joined hands with Willie Miller in the final half to power the Thunder to a victory and redeem himself from a lackluster 14-point output in the first game of the series. Willie Miller, Jimwell Torion and Junthy Valenzuela scored crucial three-pointers in the third and fourth quarter with Miller knocking in 11 of his 14 points in that span, including three triples that broke the backs of the Phone Pals, which lost Victor Pablo early in the game due to a knee injury when he fell on his back while trying to stop Junthy Valenzuela underneath the basket.

Game 3

Viva TV

September 11

recap

Batang Red Bull Thunder 71, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 80
Scoring by quarter: 19–25, 11–19, 20–17, 21–19
Pts: Antonio Lang 21		Pts: Jerald Honeycutt 26
Talk 'N Text leads series, 2-1

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Jerald Honeycutt came up with his third consecutive double-double performance of 26 points and 13 rebounds while Pete Mickeal finished with 21 markers, four of which dealt the killer blows on the Thunder, Mickeal's short jumper and two free throws off a foul by Julius Nwosu capped a remarkable night for the Phone Pals.

Game 4

Viva TV

September 13

recap

Batang Red Bull Thunder 89, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 81
Scoring by quarter: 27–18, 26–14, 14–19, 22-30
Pts: Julius Nwosu 27		Pts: Pete Mickeal 31
Series tied, 2-2

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City

Willie Miller fended off the Phone Pals' last-ditch effort after sinking both of his free throws and knocking in a decisive triple in the final minute to save the Thunder from a total collapse after posting 20-point margins three-fourths of the way before the Phone Pals' uprising. Sean Lampley, who replaces Tony Lang on a short notice, finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds.

Game 5

Viva TV

September 15

Batang Red Bull Thunder 55, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 77
Scoring by quarter: 12–19, 18–11, 10–25, 15–22
Pts: Sean Lampley 17		Pts: Jerald Honeycutt 23
Talk 'N Text leads series, 3-2

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

A 25-10 run by the Phone Pals broke the 30-all count at halftime and allow them to settle comfortably on a 55-40 advantage entering the fourth quarter. The Thunder's miscues and lethargic plays in which the Phone Pals forced them to costly turnovers saw the previous lowest output in a championship game set by Alaska in 2000 were shattered as Red Bull finished the game with only 55 points. [3]

Game 6

Viva TV

September 18

Batang Red Bull Thunder 86, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 78
Scoring by quarter: 16–13, 23–30, 23–19, 24–16
Pts: Julius Nwosu 28		Pts: Pete Mickeal 20
Series tied, 3-3

Philsports Arena, Pasig City

Donbel Belano, Gilbert Demape and Jerald Honeycutt made their shots from the outside as the Phone Pals' three-point shooting clicked to keep them ahead, 43-39, in the first half. [4]

Game 7

Viva TV

September 20

Batang Red Bull Thunder 67, Talk 'N Text Phone Pals 60
Scoring by quarter: 17–9, 16–18, 20–23, 14–10
Pts: Sean Lampley 18		Pts: Pete Mickeal 27
Red Bull wins series, 4-3

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Jimwell Torion drained a game-clinching triple with 1:31 left that found its mark and dashed the hopes of the Phone Pals, the tough defense put up by both teams resulted to an all-time low combined total of 127 points in the final game and the lowest winning output of 67. [5]

2002 PBA Commissioner's Cup Champions
Batang Red Bull Thunder Second title

Roster

Batang Red Bull roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G 3 Torion, Jimwell 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) SCSIT F 4 Harp, Davonn 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Kutztown F 6 Locsin, Noli 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) De La Salle F 8 Asaytono, Nelson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) University of Manila F 9 Mendoza, Jay 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Mapua F 10 Valenzuela, Junthy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) SCSIT G 11 Miller, Willie 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Letran College G/F 12 Hizon, Vince 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Ateneo de Manila G 13 Villoria, Anton 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Letran College F 15 Tugade, Lordy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) National University F 20 Reyes, Edmund 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) UST F 21 Lampley, Sean (I) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) University of California F 42 Lang, Antonio (I) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Duke University F 99 Nwosu, Julius (I) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Liberty University	Head coach Yeng Guiao Assistant coach(es) Roehl Nadurata Rudolf Hines Gil Lumberio Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import Injured

Talk 'N Text Phone Pals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G/F 3 Lago, Elmer 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) De La Salle G 4 Evans, Kenny 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) San Francisco G 6 Demape, Gilbert 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) CIT-University G 8 Fran, Patrick 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) UST F 13 Telan, Mark 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) De La Salle F 20 Camaso, Don 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Metro Manila Colleges F 33 Pablo, Victor 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Far Eastern F Mickeal, Pete (I) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) University of Cincinnati F/C 40 Honeycutt, Jerald (I) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Tulane University G 42 Belano, Donbel 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) University of Visayas C 43 Crisano, Alex 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Brooklyn College F/C 81 Cui, Gabby 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Ateneo de Manila	Head coach Bill Bayno Assistant coach(es) Aric del Rosario Ariel Vanguardia Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import Injured

Broadcast notes

Game	Play-by-play	Analyst
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4
Game 5
Game 6
Game 7

References

1. "Red Bull-Talk 'N Text finals series on". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
2. "Pals, Thunder: No more tomorrow". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
3. "Pals a victory shy of title". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
4. "Red Bull forces Game 7". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
5. "Thunderous Red Bull wins it all". Philippine Daily Inquirer.