TNT focused on quarterfinal bonus

TNT Tropang 5G makes one last push for a quarterfinal incentive when it faces dangerous Magnolia in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup today at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Game time is at 7 p.m. with the Tropang 5G looking to deliver a strong finishing kick in the elimination round that will boost their chances for one of the four twice-to-beat incentives in the quarterfinals.

Currently, the Tropang Giga is at sixth place with a 6-4 win-loss record while the Hotshots are at the third spot with a 7-3 card.

A win over the Hotshots will install the Tropang Giga to third place, putting them in a good position for the playoff bonus behind leader NLEX, San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra.

After posting six straight wins, the Tropang Giga sputtered as they suffered a 78-97 loss to the Kings.

With that, TNT needs two things to make sure they will make it into the Top 4.

First, the Tropang 5G needs to beat the Hotshots by a large margin to win the tiebreak and, second, hope that Ginebra will beat Rain or Shine on Sunday to avoid further complications.

TNT coach Chot Reyes admitted that their newly-acquired gunner Jordan Heading is not yet in perfect shape so they have to utilize whoever will be deployed.

“We are not rushing it. And my mentality, our team’s mentality is to play the last two games with who we have,” Reyes said, referring to the back injury that has been hampering Heading since the Commissioner’s Cup when he was still playing for Converge.

“If Jordan can join us, that’s great. But if not, we have to figure out a way to win with the team and the players that we have.”

He added that Heading is determined to bounce back and help them become only the fifth team in league history to win a rare grand slam.

“Very eager,” the multi-titled tactician said in a short message to DAILY TRIBUNE.

“Jordan is slowly fitting in but he has to be 100 percent healthy first. It will take time.”

Reyes now that their offensive production looks shaky, they have to draw more effort from Calvin Oftana, RR Pogoy, Kelly Williams and Poy Erram.

Although Oftana posted 18 points, four steals, three rebounds and two blocks against the Kings, the rest of the TNT crew were sluggish with Heading tallying 10 and everybody wounding up with just single digits in scoring.