CJAY Perez insisted he saw basically the same TNT team that San Miguel defeated in Game Three of PBA 50th Season Philippine Cup Finals, this time in Game Four that the Tropang 5G won handily, 110-87, on Wednesday night.
It’s just that the real Beermen failed to show up.
The Tropang 5G came out with an electrifying start, knocking down 12 of their 18 shots in the first quarter for a solid 67-percent shooting from the field, including five of their seven triples to build a 35-18 lead that set the tone for the blowout.
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“Actually, wala naman silang bagong ginawa eh,” Perez said. “Talagang yung physicality nandun pa rin, yung energy nila, yun lang naman talaga. Wala naman silang masyadong binago sa ginagawa nila.”
“It’s just us na hindi kami naka-adjust,” he was quick to add. “Hindi namin nabigay 'yung effort namin ng maaga.”
Picking up from his heroics in Game Three, Perez was actually one of the Beermen’s bright spots early on, scoring six points in the first period as he tried to singlehandedly weather the TNT storm.
The law of averages eventually caught up with the SMB star guard as he ended up with just 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting, four assists, two boards, and one block, against four turnovers in almost 34 minutes.
As a unit, the Beermen fell flat as they went down by as many as 35 points, 82-47, in the third quarter.
“Sobrang laki na (ng hahabulin), so mahirap na talaga, lalo na Talk ‘N Text yung kalaban, so move on kami sa next game. Hopefully makuha namin yung panalo, kasi mahirap talaga kalaban TNT lalo na sa mga ganitong series,” Perez said.
He hopes his team to be better prepared for TNT’s opening burst.
“Palapit ng palapit, syempre magiging mas intense pa yan. It’s up to us kung paano kami magre-respond sa every adjustment, sa physicality na ibibigay ng TNT.”
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