Game today:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs TNT
Defending champion TNT Tropang Giga is now in the hardest part of any series: Closing it out.
For Tropang Giga head coach Chot Reyes, Barangay Ginebra will be tougher to beat with its back against the wall in the pivotal Game 6 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup best-of-seven finals series today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
TNT’s Game 5 rout last Wednesday to move on the hilt of retaining the crown won’t matter much if it wastes its opportunity to finish off the Kings in their 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
“At this point of the series there is very little each team can do that is new. It’s just a matter of being able to play harder, play better and execute more efficiently. We just have to be ready,” Reyes said.
The Tropang Giga pounced on Ginebra early and even went up by as many as 36 points to set the tone in a 99-72 blowout for a 3-2 series lead.
TNT played to its strength of relentless defensive pressure to halt the Kings’ two-game romp, which evened the series after Ginebra went down 0-2 to start the finals rematch.
But Reyes is not discounting the capability of the Kings to come back and force a deciding Game 7 on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“We’re sure Ginebra is gonna come out with a lot more urgency and we have to be able to match that if not out-energize them,” Reyes said of the team the Tropang Giga dethroned in six games last year.
“We are not underestimating that team by any means. Not by a long shot.”
Defense will again play a huge factor in TNT’s first of two cracks at the title.
The Tropang Giga punished Ginebra import Justin Brownlee in Game 5, making sure that he won’t get good looks at the basket.
Brownlee has his worst game in the series after shooting 3-of-13 from the field for just eight points.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone pulled the naturalized Gilas Pilipinas out early with the battle already lost.
“We’re just fortunate he had an off night. We know that’s not going to persist in the next game. Coach Tim already rested him early, kind of one step backward, two steps forward kind of attack in the next game,” Reyes said.
“We just need to be ready. We know he’s gonna comeback hard as is the entire Ginebra team. So, we just need to stay on our toes and prepare for a big Ginebra fightback in the next game,” added Reyes, who is 3-3 in his finals head-to-head with Cone.
Bannered by Best Import winner Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Calvin Oftana, RR Pogoy, Rey Nambatac, JP Erram and ageless veterans Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams, TNT is looking at becoming the sixth ball club with a double-digit haul of PBA championships after San Miguel Beer (29), Ginebra (15), Alaska (14), Magnolia (14) and Crispa (13).
But Reyes, who seeks a 10th career championship, isn’t looking far ahead, knowing their job isn’t yet done.
After all, it would take a lot of work and guts to extinguish Ginebra’s never-say-die spirit.