Rocky road

A failed grand slam bid last season just made TNT hungrier in the coming Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50.

“We are by no means satisfied with how we finished the season and we hope to be able to improve on our last All-Filipino placing,” Tropang 5G head coach Chot Reyes said as his squad braces for another tough grind in the Philippine Cup starting 5 October.

TNT drew close to writing history for the storied franchise after winning the Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup championships.

However, San Miguel Beer spoiled it by beating the banged-up and undermanned Tropang 5G in six games in the season-ending Philippine Cup finals.

“But if you look back at last season, I thought we performed pretty well. So, it’s a matter of continuing that improvement,” Reyes said.

The Tropang 5G hope for a fresh start and aim for another crack at the rare season sweep.

“Well, we certainly hope so but we all know how much every team has upgraded and because we didn’t have a first or second round pick, we were kind of limited in that regard, unlike the other teams,” Reyes said.

TNT, however, tapped from the free agency to sign veteran forward Kevin Ferrer and high-flyer Tyrus Hill during the offseason to shore up its roster.

Another good news for the Tropang 5G will be the return of Rey Nambatac after an abrupt end to his stint last conference due to a groin injury while Calvin Oftana, Jordan Heading and RR Pogoy are now fully healthy.

Injured Jayson Castro (knee) and Poy Erram (knee) will miss the conference, though, but are on the right track to recovery.

“Jayson is still not going to be able to play the first conference but Poy I think will join us after a month and a half or so,” Reyes shared.

“However, we’re going to have Rey Nambatac back and then Roger Pogoy and Calvin Oftana are going to be 100 percent (healthy). And we’re looking forward also to a 100 percent healthy Jordan Heading,” Reyes added.

“You all know that they were really hobbled, especially, in the ending phases of the last conference. So that’s what we’re looking forward to. If we have everyone healthy, hopefully we could become a better team.”

The decorated mentor acknowledges that TNT’s road to redemption won’t be a rosy path.

“Kudos to the management and coaching staff of almost all the teams. They really did a great job retooling and upgrading their roster,” he said.

“And like I said, unfortunately, we didn’t have that luxury. But still, I’ll never sell my team short because I think what we have learned is really how to continue fighting and we’ve developed a lot of grit in the process. So, hopefully that’s going to be enough,” Reyes added.