Whether facing defending champion San Miguel Beer or Barangay Ginebra, TNT would like to think it will enter the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup championship as the underdog.
The Tropang 5G took a short route to a fourth straight finals appearance after booting out sister-team Meralco in five games in the best-of-seven Final Four.
TNT finished off the Bolts, 99-96, last Wednesday, despite playing sans top guard RR Pogoy due to an aggravated hamstring injury.
But the finals series next week is going to be a different story.
“It’s going to be a big shift in mindset, because to be very honest, coming into this series, we were slightly favored to win,” TNT head coach Chot Reyes said.
However, the Tropang 5G will have to brace for a much tougher job in the biggest stage.
If San Miguel, which holds a 3-2 lead semis lead, advances to a second straight championship stint and forges an all-Filipino rematch, TNT will have to deal with 6-foot-10 behemoth nine-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo and a very deep Beermen roster.
Going up against the Kings won’t be easy either with the likes of Scottie Thompson and RJ Abarrientos leading the way.
It’s a pick-your-poison situation for Reyes and TNT.
“But going into the next series, whether it’s San Miguel or Ginebra, we’re going to be underdogs, obviously, because we don’t have their size, their depth, their talent and the crowd support,” Reyes said.
“But that’s something we cannot control.”
Reyes is now more concerned about giving his wards time to rest with Pogoy’s return still doubt, as well as plot a good game plan against either rival.
“Right now, our focus is going to be our rest and our recovery and preparing as best we can while waiting for the result of the other series,” he said.
San Miguel and Ginebra, which went to seven games in the previous edition, will play Game 6 on Friday.