AS was the case in the previous two games of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, TNT coach Chot Reyes was among the first to leave the Tropang 5G dugout after a 105-91 loss to San Miguel on Sunday left them one loss away from seeing their grand slam dreams crumble completely.
The outspoken coach narrowly missed a group of reporters who wanted a soundbite from him, turning left instead of walking straight ahead – which led him straight out to the other end of the Mall of Asia Arena dugout and into the basement parking elevators.
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Whether Reyes did that on purpose or not is trivial as maybe, just like with his team, there’s nothing more that he can really say at this point of the series with the way things are going.
In fact, when asked on if there’s anything else that he’s asking from his team, he just shrugged it off
“Wala na,” Reyes told Spin.ph, granting a few questions as he walked into his car late Sunday evening. “I think they’re playing their best and we just hope to continue fighting to give ourselves a chance in the next game.”
One look at how Game 4 went down and it’s not surprising to see why Reyes might have sounded totally defeated.
Up until the end of the third quarter where they led 67-64, TNT seemed to have done everything right.
Brandon Ganuelas Rosser and Kelly Williams have effectively stayed out of foul trouble, limiting 12-time Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo in this game.
Jordan Heading has regained his touch from downtown. Collectively, TNT seemed to have turned the tide on San Miguel as they forced more turnovers and turned it into more points after 36 minutes of play.
Then San Miguel went on a run that only a team as talented as the Beermen are capable of.
The boys of coach Leo Austria made 13 of their next 16 shots including all five of their threes, scoring 41 big points in the final quarter to stun the Tropang 5G and move a win away from a championship.
“You saw it. They made shots. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat. The team’s so talented and they just made shots that were well defended, but they made those shots,” he said.
But is this a white flag that we’re seeing from Reyes? Not quite.
“We’ll just continue fighting. That’s all we can do.”
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