WITH TNT’s bid for a Grand Slam one defeat away from going down the drain in the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup quarterfinals, the Tropang 5G had a long talk to discuss whether they really want to achieve the rare feat or not.
“First of all, it’s really not in our minds,” said coach Chot Reyes about the grand slam. “But my attitude is, these guys have done so much already this year. If the grand slam is not for us, it’s not for us. But no one is going to take away what we have achieved already this year, this season.”
“Having said that, we had a long talk before practice the other day (Monday) to ask them really how much they want it. If this is something they really, really want, because it’s going to be really, really, really hard,” he continued.
From that heart-to-heart conversation, it was revealed that they indeed aspire to reach the achievement that only Crispa, San Miguel, Alaska, and San Mig Coffee have done in PBA history.
And that showed on Wednesday, when TNT defeated Magnolia, 89-88, to send their quarterfinal series into a decider on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
READ: TNT keeps grand slam dream alive by surviving late Magnolia rally
“What we thought is that we’re coming back and we’re playing on Saturday, going into this ball game. We set our practice schedule tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday because we were hell-bent on playing on Saturday,” said Reyes.
READ: Pogoy not about to let Grand Slam-seeking TNT go on vacation this early
The Tropang 5G drew big contributions from RR Pogoy, Calvin Oftana, Kelly Williams, and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser in the win that had them overcoming a 50-37 third-quarter deficit to beat the Hotshots.
Pogoy top-scored for TNT with 30 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field, while Oftana had 21 points and 16 rebounds, his boards being his best output this conference since hauling 21 in a win against the Beermen last May 4.
Still must-win for TNT
For the rubber match to dispute a semifinal seat, Reyes said recovery will be the primary focus after the grind-out game, especially for backup point guard Brian Heruela who went down with an ankle sprain after playing quality time where he grabbed three rebounds and dished one assist in 11 minutes and 59 seconds.
Of course, the Tropang 5G will need more heroes to emerge for the do-or-die game on Saturday.
“But I think for us now, the most important thing is our recovery,” Reyes said. “We have to recover. We have to do a good job resting the bodies. Brian Heruela's injury is another big blow for us. But we’ve got to get Simon Enciso to being a contributor.”
“That’s been the story of our team all season long. Next man up. We’re always next man up,” he added.
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