TAKING THE NECESSARY STEPS

From my Manila Standard Column Game Winners 7/30/10

Last Wednesday, import Omar Sneed arrived in the country and immediately made an impact for Talk and Text. He didn’t see a single second of action neither did he get to meet the team, but yes, he was a game changer.

Shawn Daniels whose been with the Tropang Texters since the start of this conference, has been dominated by his nemesis Diamon Simpson scoring-wise. But with a team like Talk and Text, they never really had a need for Daniels to produce big number because of the system, and because they do have a number of players who take care of the scoring cudgels. But if you put his stats right beside Simpson’s, any coach would want to look at other options.

So Coach Chot Reyes took the necessary step and called for Sneed, an 11 year professional, whose played in many countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Israel where he was always a strong contender for the MVP race. This 33 year old Texas native went to Memphis State and reached many collegiate achievements.

Daniels was told that Sneed was a back up plan and that he was their man. With the challenge, Daniels came out more aggressive and more productive, churning out 13 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists. With Sneed in the background, it just gave Daniels that extra motivation. So in that sense, Sneed made an impact.

Yesterday, TNT practiced with Daniels and Sneed, and Coach Chot made that decision that tomorrow, they’ll stick with Daniels. But still, their backup import will still be on standby, in case there’s a NEED FOR SNEED (quoted from Asst. Coach Josh Reyes).

Talk and Text will meet Alaska for Game 5 at the Araneta Coliseum after the San Miguel and Derby Ace semifinals showdown. The Llamados are in a must win situation with the Beermen leading the series 3-1. They too must take the necessary steps.

On another note, before the sun even rises, thousands of weekend warriors and serious runners will come together to join hardcourt heroes in a foot race to help support a worthy endeavour.

The “PBA Powerade Run For A Cause” is happening tomorrow at 5am, at the SM Mall of Asia.

There will be 10K, 5K and 3K races with the top male and female winners in each category getting P7,000, P5,000 and P3,000 respectively, and timepieces to be awarded to the top three finishers. But all the finishers will get shirts, medals and loot bags. But more than that, the P500 registration fee will go a long way.

The PBA is helping the Cancer and Hematology Center of the Philippine Children’s Medical Hospital in Quezon City. It’s sponsored by Soleus, the official timer, and backed by Smart, Air21, Viva, Zest Air, Pharmaton, Accel, Mang Inasal, Biogenic Alcohol, Norkis, AeroMed and Ifnica, along with commissioner Sonny Barrios, deputy commissioner Chito Salud and members of the PBA Board led by chairman Rene Pardo of B-Meg Derby Ace.

Registration is ongoing at the PBA office at 186 E. Rodriguez Jr Ave. Libis, Quezon City, Araneta Coliseum (during PBA games only), Cancer and Hematology Center GF PCMC, Second Wind store, ROK Fort Bonifacio High Street and Chris Sports (SM Megamall, Ermita and Glorietta).

For more details, call the PBA office at 470-2768 loc 221 or log on at www.pba.ph.