CHICAGO -- With their backs against the wall, their once-firm grip of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals series slipping, the TNT Tropang Giga assembled for practice at the Moro Lorenzo gym at around nine o'clock this morning.
Besides running drills and fine-tuning their fundamentals, the team addressed the elephant in the room.
The annoying antics of serial tantrum artist Poy Erram.
READ: For how long must TNT, Chot tolerate Erram tantrums?
"Ayos na, positive vibes na lahat," a team source told me Tuesday night.
Erram, I was also told, passed around apologies like hymn books at Sunday service, and his teammates and the coaching staff were all forgiving.
But there's also another matter to address, one that's actually basketball related: The bogged down TNT offense which scored only 66 and 78 points in their Games 4 and 5 defeats.
MISFIRING FROM 3.
Well, the solution is simple. The Tropang Giga needs to rediscover their 3-point shooting touch, a course of action that is being hindered by a stingy, oppressive Ginebra defense.
In Games One and Three, which they won, TNT hit 25-of-62 beyond the arc (40 percent). In their Games Two, Four and Five losses, TNT connected on only 22-of-89, a meager 24 percent.
In their three losses, TNT has generated 15.5 points less from three land. It's a huge problem and even an amateur sleuth without a trench coat and magnifying glass can point to this symptom..
The A-game of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has faded like well-worn jeans. And that needs to be fixed as well.
After averaging 26.3 points on 42 percent shooting from the field, RHJ has produced only 16.5 points a contest on 27 percent shooting in Games Four and Five.
RHJ NEEDS HELP.
Not only must the real RHJ need to please stand up, he can also use some help. Maybe calling for more set plays and touches for snipers Calvin Oftana and Roger Pogoy will alleviate the import's burden.
Easier said than done, though, given that run outs and 3s in transition are TNT's bread and butter. But seeing how telecommunications giant is a game away from disconnection, all options must be open.
He's not a starry, starry name but Glenn Khobuntin is a huge factor in this title series.
In the games TNT won, Glenn averaged nine points and hit 4-of-7 combined from 3. In TNT's losses, the 6-foot-4 forward averaged just 1.3 points per while firing blanks, 0-for-8, from 3.
While Erram behaving badly has distracted the team focus and created unnecessary tensions, those outbursts are not the reason why TNT is on a freefall.
But tomorrow is another day.
Game Six could be redemption for TNT. It can also be the sorry, unexpected ending to all their misery.
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