Tropang 5G seek to rebound vs. Terrafirma, keep title hopes alive

THOSE three losses right off the gates pushed TNT to get its act together and embrace the right mindset as it tries to save its PBA grand slam aspirations.

The Tropang 5G averted a franchise-worst 0-4 start by outplaying powerhouse San Miguel Beer last Sunday, 89-84, with the hope of commencing a big turnaround in the Philippine Cup, the final piece for the Season 49 Triple Crown they’ve set their eyes on.

“Certainly it’s a step in the right direction,” said coach Chot Reyes, who however, stressed the hardship of taking the next steps.

“But our effort in the next few games is going to tell if we have started to turn that corner. This is just the first step. We’re happy but we cannot be content with this.”

The reigning Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup kingpins did a serious soul-searching after what Mr. Reyes described as “terrible losses” to NLEX (74-91), Converge (94-100) and Phoenix (85-91).

And one key realization? The Tropang 5G can’t expect to play as if prolific import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and veteran Jayson Castro are with them in this drive.

“We were talking about why we can’t do this, why we can’t do that in our first three games. Until we realized that we can’t go back to the old TNT game because this is a vastly different team without Jayson (Castro) and without Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson),” said Mr. Reyes.

“This is a very different team. So I told the players before the game (against SMB), let’s play our game with the players in this room, with who we have. And I think that simple realization worked wonders with the way the players played, their effort and their fight,” he added.

Mr. Reyes’ rejuvenated troops will gun for their first two-game roll on Friday against skidding Terrafirma (1-4). — Olmin Leyba