TNT Tropang 5G head coach Chot Reyes eagerly anticipates which of San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra his team will tackle for a shot at a historic Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) grand slam.
Four more wins and the Tropang 5G will get the right to have their name inside the elite club of triple crown winners.
But for the time being, Reyes and his wards could only wait for the result of the other PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals that went the full distance Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
In a pick-your-poison situation, Reyes would rather not mention any club that it would want to face in the race-to-four finals starting on Sunday.
It might bite back and haunt Tropang 5G in the end.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. They’re both very formidable opponents. We just need to take care of the things that are within our control,” Reyes said after securing a third straight championship appearance in Season 49.
TNT took care of business after eliminating a familiar semis victim in Rain or Shine in six games.
Bruised and aching all over, the Tropang 5G welcomed an extra weeklong break following a 97-89 clincher over the Elasto Painters last Sunday, despite missing injured guard RR Pogoy and veteran big man Kelly Williams.
TNT is already dealing with the absence of veteran Jayson Castro after sustaining a season-ending knee injury, followed by a groin injury suffered by Rey Nambatac that ruled him out of the all-Filipino conference.
Pogoy is expected to be in uniform in Game 1 while Williams remains day-to-day.
TNT is out to settle an unfinished business since falling short of joining the company of legendary teams Crispa (two-time grand slam winner), San Miguel, Alaska and San Mig Coffee in the three-conference sweepers list back in 2011.
The date with destiny presents itself once again.
But Reyes would rather not rush things and look too far ahead.
“I had to discipline my thinking by not looking forward. So, believe it or not, I’m really not thinking about it,” Reyes answered when queried about his thoughts on winning a grand slam.
“I just disciplined myself to focus on what’s in front of us. Now that we’re here (in the finals), I have to continue that same discipline and just focus on Game 1,” added Reyes, who served a one-game suspension in Game 5 of the semis due to accumulated technical fouls.
“So, forgive me for not answering the question, but we just need to get Game 1 now.”
Interestingly, TNT could face the Kings, which it has beaten in the import-laden Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup finals behind three-time Best Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
However, the Tropang 5G suffered a 19-point beating at the hands of Ginebra.
On the other hand, a showdown against the Beermen could finally banish the ghost of its 2011 grand slam attempt.
The then Petron bannered franchise denied Reyes and the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters of making history after stealing the 2011 Governors’ Cup crown in a winner-take-all Game 7.
TNT defeated the Beermen in their elimination round meeting.
Reyes expressed great admiration for his wards for soldiering on despite a depleted lineup and a bad start that saw the Tropang 5G go down 0-3 in the season-ending conference.
TNT went through the wringer to get into its current position.
The Tropang 5G even rallied to get past twice-to-beat Magnolia in the quarterfinals. Both games were decided by just a single point.
“By just keeping our eyes on the prize,” Reyes said of what motivates his team.
“We said, even with that bad start, that all we wanted was to give ourselves a chance. Our objective after the 0-3 start was just to get to the playoffs,” he added.
“We were not even thinking of getting a twice-to-beat advantage. We just wanted to get into the playoffs and we figured whoever it is that we need to beat, we need to beat twice, then so be it. So that’s the first thing. We kept our eyes on the prize.”
“No. 2, we just came together, and we always have that saying in our team, when adversity strikes, sometimes we have a tendency to go our own ways. And I said it’s the opposite. When adversity strikes, we have to team. We have to team up more. We have to battle adversity with our teamsmanship, our teamwork. And that’s what happened.”