2003 Talk 'N Text Phone Pals season

2003 Talk 'N Text Phone Pals season
Head coach	Paul Woolpert Joel Banal
Owner(s)	Smart Communications
All-Filipino Cup results
Record	19–13 (59.4%)
Place	1st
Playoff finish	Finals
Invitational Cup results
Record	3–1 (75%)
Place	N/A
Playoff finish	N/A
Reinforced Conference results
Record	9–10 (47.4%)
Place	3rd
Playoff finish	Semifinals
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals seasons

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

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Height	Position	College
1	4	Harvey Carey	6"3'	F	Sonoma State
1	10	Jimmy Alapag	5"9'	G	California State
3	26	William Villa	6"2'	F	BYU-Hawaii

Main article: 2003 PBA Draft

Championship

The Talk 'N Text Phone Pals won their first championship in the All-Filipino Cup, defeating the defending champions Coca Cola Tigers, 4 games to 2, 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 during the All-Filipino Cup.
• Jimmy Alapag won the Rookie of the Year honors.

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.

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

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

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.

Roster

Talk 'N Text Phone Pals roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From 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, Damien (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 Joel Banal Assistant coach(es) Ariel Vanguardia Virgil Villavicencio Aric Del Rosario Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (I) Import Injured

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 TJ Hotdogs and their 6th pick; acquired the Hotdogs' number 4 pick)