The Final Score: Anthony Grundy is killing Talk 'N Text softly

Source: gmanews.tv

I'll be honest. He doesn't look like he can ball. No arm sleeve. No headband. He doesn't even have a killer nom de plume like Eeeezy G or Tony Buckets. Anthony Grundy is just Anthony Grundy. Petron teammates just call him, well, AG. Ganun ka-simple. By the end of Friday night, pulverizing all expectations, we might start calling Easy Anthony a PBA champion too. Even if he doesn't play with the style or spark or swagger of one.

Grundy replaced the exciting Jeremy Wise (22 ppg 5 rpg and 5 apg). In Grundy's first game, Petron lost by 24. He scored 30 forgettable points (it's amazing how this is possible). But it was more a look-see than a let-down. In the Semi-Finals, he averaged 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists with little bravado. That was just his style. Laro lang. Gawa lang. Simple lang. Impressing by being invisible.

"Sa totoo lang po, nung naglaro sa amin si Grundy, agad ko siyang ki-nompare with Jeremy Wise," Arwind Santos recalls. "First game namin with Grundy talo kami. Kaya nasabi ko po noon na iba pa rin si Jeremy. Pero nagkamali po ako."

I'm tempted to call Grundy unorthodox the way writers did during his productive run with NC State (1998-2002). But Mac Cardona is likewise unorthodox. And it's impossible to call Cardona obscure. Then again, I'm writing about Grundy; the way he scores like he's always off-balanced, the way he passes to teammates like it's always accidental, the way he scores clutch baskets like he never means to, because Grundy is now impossible to miss.

Grundy's also becoming impossible to defend. In Game 5 of the PBA Governors' Cup Finals, he played like the coolest cat in the building: 26 points 11 rebounds 6 assists. Talk 'N Text's import Scottie Reynolds, on the other hand, shot 2 out of 12 (0 of 6 3-points). Reynolds is gone. TNT's Maurice Baker will be back for Game 6. But Grundy stays. As dependable as always. As cool as ever.

"Hindi napipikon si AG," Santos adds. "It means hindi siya nasisindak ng Talk 'N Text. Hindi nila nasisira yung laro ni Grundy. Kahit po pinipisikal nila.

During the post-game television interview after Game 5, Grundy also talked like the coolest cat in the club. He sounded just like Isaac Hayes. Seriously. It's easy to imagine Grundy reciting "Who's the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about" like Hayes does in the Shaft theme. Although Grundy's no Shaft, because Shaft is violent flair. Grundy is so much more subdued even if he's tearing TNT's famed defense into shreds.

I'll be honest. Anthony Grundy doesn't look like he can ball. And I always remember Miss Grundy from Archie's when I hear Anthony's name. But with one more win, with some more unexpected shots, crucial rebounds and nifty assists, Grundy can become the cool cat TNT couldn't stop, the top cat Petron needed all along.