TNT Tropang 5G continues to move forward in its grand slam bid despite missing key players due to injuries.
Although undermanned with the addition of Rey Nambatac in sickbay, the Tropang 5G sustained their hot streak with a huge win over top contender Rain or Shine to stay in the thick of the hunt for a quarterfinals seat in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.
Behind Poy Erram’s career-best 31 points and RR Pogoy’s 35-point explosion, TNT downed Rain or Shine, 111-103, Wednesday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Tropang 5G racked up four straight wins after a 0-3 start.
TNT showed resilience and grit while playing limp following a groin injury Nambatac suffered last week, which compounded the team’s already depleted lineup with veteran guard Jayson Castro out for the rest of the season due to a ruptured patellar tendon.
“I think it was important that we understand and accept that we don’t have a Rey Nambatac, who was very instrumental in our second unit to score. When we knew that, we practiced in such a way that we could live without Rey,” TNT head coach Chot Reyes said.
“And that meant making sure that we make stops and get quality shots.
We’re not going to make every shot but as long as we come down and take good shots and not turn the ball over, then we figured that we could have a chance. I think that’s what happened in today’s game.”
The Tropang Giga recovered from an early 13-point deficit with a strong defensive effort in the second quarter before holding on in the final half.
“We shot the ball poorly in the first half, but they were good shots. We weren’t turning the ball over. We ended up with only eight turnovers the whole game and there were two turnovers in the end game where the game’s already over. I thought we did a good job in getting good shots,” Reyes said.
TNT is currently at sixth spot, tied with the Elasto Painters, after turning its fortunes around from a slow start.
Reyes, who steered his team to the Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup titles this season, would like to think that the Tropang 5G are already getting the hang of things.
“Our approach is to make sure we get better every day. And to do that, we have to make sure we have good practices. We had a good week of practice, so much so that we’re actually trying to stop practice because it was getting too intense already,” Reyes shared.
“That’s the only way we could compete. With the lack of manpower. We don’t have the talent and the depth of the other teams. So, we just have to be better, we have to be connected, so that the sum of our parts becomes greater than the whole.”
“I think that the only way we can compete. We don’t have Jayson, then we lost Rey and we don’t have Henry Galinato. Those are three guys who are very important in our rotation. So, we just have to accept who we have and make do with the cards we’re dealt with.”
With four games remaining in their elims assignment, Reyes has downplayed the team’s resurgence. He would rather the Tropang 5G keep their eyes on the big picture of securing a quarters seat.
“We don’t think about that (streak). We’re just focused right now. We’re now focused on the next game,” he said.
