2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals
# 2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals

The 2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals was the best-of-7 championship series of the 2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The Alaska Aces and the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters played for the 96th championship contested by the league.

This was the first Philippine Cup Finals where no team from the San Miguel Corporation took part since 2000, and the second time the Aces and the Tropang Texters met in the finals, the first was from the 2007 PBA Fiesta Conference in which the Aces won in seven games.

## Background

| Talk 'N Text | Talk 'N Text | Alaska | Alaska |
| - | - | - | - |
| Finished 11–7 (.611): 2nd | Elimination round | Elimination round | Finished 12–6 (.677): 1st |
| Bye | Wildcard phase | Wildcard phase | Bye |
| Bye ||
| Def. San Miguel, 4–2 | Semifinals | Semifinals | Def. Sta. Lucia, 4–2 |

## Series summary

| Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Wins |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Talk 'N Text | 95 | 91 | 92 | 100 | 93 | 99 | 93 | 4 |
| Alaska | 102 | 100 | 73 | 98 | 95 | 94 | 89 | 3 |
| Venue | Araneta | Araneta | Araneta | Araneta | Cuneta | Araneta | Araneta | |

### Game 1

* C/S9
* January 28 7:30 p.m.
* boxscore

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 95, Alaska Aces 102 :

| Scoring by quarter: 30–23, 14–24, 29–25, 22–30 |||
| - | - | - |
| Pts: Castro 18 Rebs: Carey 15 Asts: Cardona 4 | Pts: Tenorio 27 Rebs: dela Cruz 14 Asts: Miller 9 |
| Alaska leads series, 1–0 |||

* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Aldaba, Balao, Ngo

### Game 2

* C/S9
* January 30 7:00 p.m.
* boxscore

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 91, Alaska Aces 100 :

| Scoring by quarter: 19–25, 36–29, 24–22, 12–24 |||
| - | - | - |
| Pts: de Ocampo 20 Rebs: Carey 9 Asts: Cardona, Castro 5 | Pts: Devance 24 Rebs: dela Cruz, Devance 9 Asts: Tenorio 10 |
| Alaska leads series, 2–0 |||

* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Herrera, Ferrer, Sambrano

### Game 3

* C/S9
* February 1 6:00 p.m.
* boxscore

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 92, Alaska Aces 73 :

| Pts: Cardona 23 Rebs: Carey 14 Asts: Castro 7 | Pts: Fonacier, Hugnatan, Thoss 13 Rebs: Hugnatan 12 Asts: Tenorio 6 |
| - | - |
| Alaska leads series, 2–1 |||

* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Cruz, Ngo, Maurillo

### Game 4

* C/S9
* February 4 7:00 p.m.
* boxscore

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 100, Alaska Aces 98 :

| Pts: Alapag 20 Rebs: Carey 9 Asts: Castro 5 | Pts: Devance 24 Rebs: Thoss 11 Asts: Miller 9 |
| - | - |
| Series tied, 2–2 |||

* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Calungcaguin, Aldaba, Quilinguen

### Game 5

* C/S9
* February 6 7:00 p.m.
* boxscore

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 93, Alaska Aces 95 :

| Pts: Cardona 23 Rebs: de Ocampo 11 Asts: Castro 7 | Pts: Thoss 20 Rebs: Hugnatan 10 Asts: Tenorio 12 |
| - | - |
| Alaska leads series, 3–2 |||

* Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay Referees: Cruz, Ferrer, Balao

Conference best player Willie Miller knocked in a big triple to make up for two crucial errors down the stretch. TNT had a chance to salvage the game but Renren Ritualo misfired his own three-point try then Harvey Carey missed a tip-in in the last eight seconds.

### Game 6

* C/S9
* February 8 6:00 p.m.
* boxscore

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 99, Alaska Aces 94 :

| Pts: Cardona 23 Rebs: Peek 16 Asts: Alapag 6 | Pts: Miller 22 Rebs: Ferriols 10 Asts: Miller 7 |
| - | - |
| Series tied, 3–3 |||

* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 13,034 Referees: Aldaba, Sambrano, N., Mangibin R

### Game 7

* C/S9
* February 11 7:00 p.m.
* boxscore

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 93, Alaska Aces 89 :

| Pts: Cardona 23 Rebs: de Ocampo 11 Asts: Castro 8 | Pts: Miller 22 Rebs: Devance 14 Asts: Miller 8 |
| - | - |
| Talk 'N Text wins series, 4–3 |||

* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 18,388 Referees: Cruz, Aldaba, Maurillo

## Broadcast notes

| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst | Courtside reporters |
| - | - | - | - |
| Game 1 | Mico Halili | Quinito Henson | Dominic Uy & Lia Cruz |
| Game 2 | Ed Picson | Jason Webb | Eric Reyes & Reema Chanco |
| Game 3 | Mico Halili | Andy Jao | Patricia Bermudez-Hizon & Peaches Aberin |
| Game 4 | Jude Turcuato | Quinito Henson | Magoo Marjon & Cesca Litton |
| Game 5 | Ed Picson | Jason Webb | Chiqui Reyes & Reema Chanco |
| Game 6 | Mico Halili | Andy Jao | Dominic Uy & Lia Cruz |
| Game 7 | Jude Turcuato | Norman Black | Dominic Uy & Cesca Litton |

*Magoo Marjon Alternate for Ed Picson who mistakenly went to the Araneta Coliseum instead of the Cuneta Astrodome which was the Game 5 venue.

Music used in the coverage were "We Made It" by Busta Rhymes featuring Linkin Park.

