TNT Tropang Giga was stunned following its early exit in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner's Cup.
Jayson Castro – the heart and soul of the powerhouse club – admitted that they couldn't believe that they will not be competing in the playoffs for the first time in the past eight conferences, where they also had three finals appearances with two under coach Chot Reyes.
The import-laced conference had been a disaster for TNT.
The Tropang Giga tinkered with their roster as they unloaded veteran forward Troy Rosario in a three-way deal with NLEX and Blackwater.
In exchange, the Tropang Giga were able to acquire talented swingman Calvin Oftana and veteran forward Raul Soyud from the Road Warriors.
Even Castro, a seven-time PBA champion, five-time Best Player of the Conference and two-time Finals Most Valuable Player, could only so much as he was sidelined by an ankle injury in their past three games.
Castro wasn't the only player sidelined by injury as Glenn Khobuntin just returned from a medial collateral ligament injury while import Cameron Oliver suffered a sprained knee in the crucial stretch of the eliminations.
Without their floor leader in Castro, the Tropang Giga had to bank on their young crew led by Mikey Williams, Oftana, Pogoy and Poy Erram.
"We are a playoff team," Castro told Daily Tribune in a telephone conversation.
"We were surprised that we're not able to make it there."
Castro believes that more than the injuries and other issues they have no control of, the internal problems also served as a major blow to their morale.
TNT team manager Jojo Lastimosa agrees, attributing their downfall to a lot of factors, including the Oftana-Rosario deal and their inability to have a complete team during training camp and other off-court issues.
"When we lost Troy, the players kinda lost a brother and you can see that in the players," Lastimosa said during a telephone conversation.
"It has somehow manifested in the squad."
Lastimosa, a 10-time champion who led Alaska to a grand slam in 1996, thinks a talented player like Oftana would need a little more time to adjust to a systematic team like TNT.
"Calvin is talented, but he is still learning the team's system as well as his teammates' playing habits," Lastimosa said.
"He'll need a few more time."
Lastimosa believes a bigger part of the team's sub-par performance started when they couldn't even train together with a complete lineup.
"We were never complete," Lastimosa added.
"At the start of the training camp, we were only nine and we have to ask the players from our 3×3 team's help just to make sure we can have some scrimmages."
"Injuries were also a big part of it as we didn't have Glenn, Ryan (Reyes) and Kib (Montalbo) for a long stretch, while others were still on vacation. Then, of course, the off-court issues with Mikey (Williams). Although we're not thinking of it more, subconsciously, the players were thinking 'why did he able to do that?'
Still, Castro and Lastimosa think that their early elimination will give them more time to recharge and prepare for the next conference.
