WILL MAURICE BAKER LEADS TNT TO A GRAND SLAM?

The Talk N Text Tropang Texters are courting history this coming Governor’s Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The Manny V. Pangilinan-owned franchise is bidding to become only the fourth team in local pro league history to win the grand slam after Crispa (1976, 1983), San Miguel (1989) and Alaska Milk (1996). The Texters had earlier won this year’s All-Filipino and Commissioner’s Cup conferences and it seems they are on their way for a triple-crown finish. Currently, TNT’s local crew is one of the most deepest rosters in the league but the main key to their elusive dream is the team’s import reinforcement in the season-ending third conference. An import can make or break a team’s campaign in the PBA. The Texters has reportedly signed Maurice Baker for the Governor’s Cup. Baker is a 6-1 dynamo and a native of Granite City, Illinois. He played college ball at Oklahoma State University but was not drafted in the NBA after his graduation. However, Baker suited up as a free-agent for the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers in the latter part of the 2004-05 season. Baker, 31, made his mark in the NBA D-League, seeing action for the Dakota Wizards in five seasons. He has career norms of 12.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg and 4.8 apg in 196 total games for the Wizards. Baker also saw action for the Ola Verde de Poza Rica Ver squad in the Mexican pro league last season. He averaged 13.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 4.5 apg in 22 total outings. Baker had his moment during the 2008 NBA D-league Showcase when he exploded for 41 points in a victory over the Iowa Energy, according to Draft Express.

“Maurice was phenomenal in his first game of the Showcase. He scored 41 points on a variety of plays, and was perfect from the line, shooting a whopping 17 of 17. He punished the Iowa defenders by knocking down open jumpers off of screens and curls and drew contact on the defender for several and-1 opportunities. Clearly we’re talking about an extremely versatile scorer with outstanding instincts for putting the ball in the net.”