THE TIME HAS COME

Game today:

(Ynares Center-Antipolo)

7:30 p.m. — TNT vs San Miguel

TNT Tropang 5G quietly made an off-season buildup with one team in mind — San Miguel Beer.

Finally, the time has come for the Tropang 5G to gain revenge when they open their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup best-of-seven title series against the Beermen on Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Game 1 fires off at 7:30 p.m. with the Tropang 5G marching to battle, motivated not just to win the franchise’s 12th championship, but also to finally slay the giant that had beaten them in six of their seven finals encounters.

Their previous finals setback to the Beermen was truly painful.

After winning the first two conferences — the Governors’ Cup and the Commissioner’s Cup — with prolific import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson at the helm, the Tropang 5G found themselves in a unique position to etch their names in league history as the fifth squad to win a rare grand slam.

But the Beermen refused to let it happen.

With nine-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo terrorizing the paint, the Beermen humiliated the Tropang 5G in six of the scheduled seven-game series, sending a strong message that it takes a lot before they could join them together with other legendary squads like Crispa, Alaska and San Mig Coffee as among the teams who have won the triple crown.

TNT coach Chot Reyes admitted that losing in the previous conference was very disappointing so they launched an off-season buildup with the hopes of matching — if not, surpassing — the firepower, the defensive prowess of these mighty Beermen.

“Definitely,” Reyes said when asked during the pre-Finals press conference on Monday if their decision to acquire some key players like Jio Jalalon, Kevin Ferrer and Tyrus Hill were made with the Beermen in mind.

“If you go into any tournament, you take a look at who’s the big guy on the block. There’s no secret that San Miguel has dominated this tournament. So if you want to be able to compete with them, then you better have the resources, and that’s what guided our build-up in the first.”

Reyes added that their previous finals setback to the Beermen had opened their eyes, giving them an idea that they can’t win the title if they have very limited manpower.

“The second (reason for the signings) was the injuries that we experienced in the last finals. So it was a big part, a big objective for us to address our depth. And I thought we were able to do that with those additions,” said Reyes, who missed the services of key players like Rey Nambatac, Jayson Castro and Poy Erram while RR Pogoy and Jordan Heading played hurt in the latter stretch of their previous finals duel.

“So, a combination of really going and looking at San Miguel as the benchmark, and at the same time, addressing our own issues.”

Beermen coach Leo Austria agrees with Reyes, saying that the finale of last year could have been a different story if the Tropang 5G had all their soldiers present on the battlefield.

“They’re playing really well, especially in their last series,” Austria said, noting that they will be facing a TNT side that is far more dangerous than whom they beat in the previous finale.

“And last time around, when we won the championship, I won’t say it because of our efforts alone, but maybe because they had a lot of players that weren’t able to play because of some injuries.”

True enough, there’s nothing in TNT’s mind at this point but to get back at San Miguel, which is considered as the gold standard in the Philippine Cup after winning the last seven titles.

Despite being ravaged by injuries, the Tropang 5G made it to the quarterfinals as the third seed. They sent Magnolia packing before making short work of sister team Meralco to march into the best-of-seven finals series oozing with confidence.

On the other hand, the Beermen took the No. 1 spot with a 9-2 win-loss record, but they had a tougher time as they battled past NLEX and crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra before booking a return flight to the finals.

Reyes stressed that they are a more complete team right now as everybody is on board, save for Castro, who is still recovering from knee injury, and Pogoy, who remains day-to-day due to hamstring issues.

“Obviously, the fact that we’re complete now — although not still a hundred percent complete — I think we have a better chance. Although it’s not a guarantee of success, I think our chances now are better compared to last season,” Reyes said, who aims to stop Fajardo’s dominance in the shaded lanes as well as the hot-shooting of Don Trollano, Jericho Cruz and CJ Perez, who erupted for 41 points in their series-clinching 101-88 win over the Kings last Friday.