TNT joins PBA arms race

Season 49 is over and done with.

TNT could only lick its wounds after falling short of a grand slam in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) following its Philippine Cup finals defeat to San Miguel Beer.

The Tropang 5G will spend the next few months recharging and preparing for the league’s golden anniversary, but more importantly, will use the break to allow their injured players to recover and return to competitive form in time for the 5 October season opener.

“That’s the plan. The plan for us in getting the players that we are getting is because we want precisely to match the depth of the San Miguel teams,” TNT head coach Chot Reyes said.

“You see how deep San Miguel, Ginebra and Magnolia are. They’re very, very deep so we have to be able to match that depth.”

Health issues had been the main culprit in TNT’s failed attempt at a franchise history as it played the mighty Beermen in the best-of-seven championship series that ended in just six games without its key players.

The Finals Most Valuable Players of the recently concluded season’s first two conferences, top guards Jayson Castro and Rey Nambatac had their season cut short due to knee and groin injuries, respectively. The same goes with backup guard Jielo Razon after undergoing an appendectomy.

RR Pogoy missed four games in the semifinals against Rain or Shine after aggravating a hamstring injury while Kelly Williams sat out two due to a high ankle sprain.