ANTIPOLO – TNT coach Chot Reyes gave Mark Nonoy and Terrafirma their flowers after losing to the lowly squad last Wednesday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Reyes said the Tropang Giga were not prepared for the nothing-to-lose attitude of the Dyip in their Wednesday game where the reigning Governors’ Cup champions traild by as many as 31 points before going down, 117-108.
Showing the way for the Dyip in that game was Mark Nonoy, who lit up with 33 points to help Terrafirma avoid a winless conference.
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Reyes said the team made sure it won’t happen again when they faced Phoenix days later. It showed in the result as TNT led by as many as 40 points before beating the Fuel Masters by 36, 106-70.
“The last game was very uncharacteristic. But take nothing away from Terrafirma. They played a hell of a ballgame. They shot the lights out,” said Reyes.
“And then, we ran into a hurricane named Nonoy,” said Reyes. “Hurricane Nonoy kicked our butts in the last game. I think it was very important for us to take the lesson from that game into today’s ballgame.”
RR Pogoy said they’ve learned their lesson from that Terrafirma loss, sharing the ball and, more importantly, defending well enough to holf Phoenix to a conference low in terms of points scored.
“Nung last game kasi, ang selfish namin,” Pogoy said. “Hindi kami nagtutulungan. Nakita naman ngayon. Kung sino ‘yung kailangang tulungan, nagtutulungan na kami lalo na sa help side.
"Pag ganun ang depensa namin last game, wala kaming chance manalo. Ni-remind kami ni coach Chot na kung gusto nating manalo, dumepensa tayo.”
Coming just after a morale-boosting 91-86 victory over Barangay Ginebra last week, the loss to Terrafirma - TNT's second in a row to the perennial cellar-dwellers - should serve as a wake-up call to the players, Reyes said.
The Tropang Giga also lost to the Dyip, 84-72, last September 19 late in the Governors’ Cup eliminations.
“This happened to us also last conference. We were on a good run. And then Terrafirma beat us. I guess no matter how much I remind the players, no matter how much I talk to them, until they really feel what’s happening in the game, it’s hard for them to, I guess, believe what we were trying to warn them about.
“But like I said, they came in with a very good game plan against us. There’s nothing wrong with our offense. We scored over a hundred points but we just couldn’t stop their offensive incursions.
"In the first half, they got a lot from inside. In the second half, they hit everything from the three-point line. That was the story of the ballgame," Reyes added. “Hopefully, we are able to take that lesson to heart."
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