2003 Talk 'N Text Phone Pals season

The 2003 Talk 'N Text Phone Pals season was the 14th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

2003 Talk 'N Text Phone Pals season
Head coachPaul Woolpert
Joel Banal
Owner(s)Smart Communications
All-Filipino Cup results
Record19–13
(.594)
Place1st
Playoff finishChampions
Invitational Cup results
Record3–1
(.750)
PlaceN/A
Playoff finishN/A
Reinforced Conference results
Record9–10
(.474)
Place3rd
Playoff finishSemis (lost to Coca Cola)
Stats @ PBA-Online.net
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals seasons

Draft picks

Transactions
Players Added

Via Draft

  • Jimmy Alapag
  • Harvey Carey
  • William Villa

Via Free Agency

  • Angelo David (From Sta. Lucia Realtors; Both teams agreed to share obligations on contract of the player)
  • Jonathan De Guzman (Drafted by Purefoods in 2001)
  • Expedito Falcasantos (From Sta. Lucia Realtors)
  • Jojo Manalo (From Coca Cola Tigers)
 Players Lost

Via Free Agency

  • Don Camaso (To Alaska)
  • Alex Crisano (To Barangay Ginebra Kings)

Via Trade

  • Gilbert Demape (To Purefoods and their 6th pick; acquired the Hotdogs' number 4 pick)

Occurrences

February 27: PBA Suspends Asi Taulava for two games after he was found to have traces of Marijuana during a mandated test conducted by league physician Ben Salud. [1]

April 12: Phone Pals coach Paul Woolpert was fired by the management and named assistant coach Joel Banal as his interim replacement.

May 6: Forward Norman Gonzales was also tested positive of banned substance, he was the fifth player to be suspended indefinitely by the PBA and was ordered to undergo a six-month rehabilitation. [2]

August 15: Talk 'N Text acting head coach Ariel Vanguardia, who took over from Joel Banal, when the latter decided to honor his commitment with the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP, was slapped with a five-game suspension and a P50,000 fine while the team P250,000 in a game-sham that took place on August 13 when the Phone Pals tried to extend a winning ballgame against Red Bull in overtime by deliberately shooting on the Barako's goal, Talk 'N Text representative to the PBA board Ricky Vargas said the team will appeal the five-game suspension to Commissioner Noli Eala since the Phone Pals cannot hire an interim coach for five games starting the Third Conference. [3]

Championship

The Talk 'N Text Phone Pals won their first championship in the All-Filipino Cup by defeating the defending champions Coca Cola Tigers. The Phone Pals lost the first two games of the series but won the next four to clinch their first title in 13 years, not counting the 1998 Centennial Cup triumph. Asi Taulava was voted finals MVP of the series.

Main article: 2003 PBA All-Filipino Cup Finals

Awards
  • Asi Taulava won the coveted Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, aside from winning the Best Player of the Conference in the All-Filipino Cup.
  • Jimmy Alapag won the Rookie of the Year honors.

Roster
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.
F 00 Villa, William 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) BYU-Hawaii
G 1 Ravena, Bong 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) UE
G 3 Alapag, Jimmy 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) CSU San Bernardino
F 4 Carey, Harvey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sonoma State
F 6 Locsin, Noli 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) De La Salle
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 15 Falcasantos, Expedito 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) University of Cebu
F 19 Gonzales, Norman 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) San Beda College
F 21 Cantrell, Damian (I) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) San Francisco
G/F 28 Manalo, Jojo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) UPHSD
F 33 Pablo, Victor 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Far Eastern
C 38 David, Angelo 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Far Eastern
G 42 Belano, Donbel 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) University of Visayas
C 88 Taulava, Asi 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) BYU-Hawaii
G 99 De Guzman, Jonathan 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Adamson University
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (I) Import
  • Injured

Game results

All-Filipino Cup
Date Opponent Score Top scorer Venue Location
February 26Shell74-77Philsports ArenaPasig City
March 2Alaska78-96Alapag (24 pts)Araneta ColiseumQuezon City
March 9San Miguel83-79Ravena (21 pts)Araneta ColiseumQuezon City
March 14Sta.Lucia72-71Alapag (16 pts)Philsports ArenaPasig City
March 21 (Ordered replay)Brgy.Ginebra117-122 2OTAlapag (40 pts)Araneta ColiseumQuezon City
March 26Shell104-92Taulava (46 pts)Makati ColiseumMakati City
March 29Red Bull88-94Taulava (27 pts)Cebu City
April 2Purefoods83-85Philsports ArenaPasig City
April 9FedEX93-86 OTTaulava (38 pts)Philsports ArenaPasig City
April 12Coca-Cola78-79San Fernando, Pampanga
April 16Sta.Lucia84-77Philsports ArenaPasig City
April 22 (Replay)Brgy.Ginebra90-87Alapag (26 pts)Araneta ColiseumQuezon City
April 25Red BullPhilsports ArenaPasig City
April 30Alaska89-88Makati ColiseumMakati City
May 4Coca-Cola91-87Taulava (30 pts)Araneta ColiseumQuezon City
May 9FedEx105-116Philsports ArenaPasig City
May 11Brgy.Ginebra82-99Alapag (21 pts)Araneta ColiseumQuezon City
May 21PurefoodsPhilsports ArenaPasig City
May 28San Miguel102-106Taulava (31 pts)Philsports ArenaPasig City

  Win
  Win via OT
  loss
  loss via OT

gollark: Surely if you controlled the FDA you could find something better to do with it?
gollark: Like someone said in the comments, they can just run it all the way to the heat death of the universe instantly and fix that.
gollark: I don't see why you would want that. One infinitely powerful hypercomputer can do the same as whatever amount of infinitely powerful hypercomputers in zero time.
gollark: You get... two simulations, one different, presumably?
gollark: I didn't say it was proof, just that it wasn't disproof.

References
  1. "PBA bares penalties for drug users". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  2. "TNT forward fails drug test". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  3. "Mockery to cost TNT heavy fines". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
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