CHOT Reyes is having one of his best starts in a conference as PBA coach.
In his first season back as coach of TNT, Reyes is on a roll with four straight victories capped by the Tropang GIGA’s 96-76 win over Blackwater on Wednesday.
According to PBA statistics chief Fidel Mangonon, Reyes never led TNT to a 4-0 start in a conference even during his successful tenure with the team from 2008 to 2012.
The first time Reyes started a conference 4-0 was in 2003 during his time with Coca Cola in the Reinforced Conference which the Tigers ruled, according to Mangonon.
During that series against San Miguel, Jeffrey Cariaso, now the head coach of Alaska, won the Finals MVP as Coca Cola won the championship in seven games.
Aside from Cariaso, the Coca Cola team also had the likes of the Johnny Abarrientos, Bong Hawkins, and Poch Juinio, who like Cariaso were members of Alaska's grand slam team of 1996.
Ato Morano, Rudy Hatfield, and then-youngsters Rafi Reavis and Reynel Hugnatan were also part of the team.
A good omen perhaps?
Reyes refuses to hark back to the past, even though his resume is studded with eight PBA championships (four with TNT) and five Coach of the Year awards.
“I don’t try to think about it, ‘yung past stints ko sa TNT,” said Reyes. “Kinalimutan ko na ‘yun. Everything, from way, way back is no longer in our consciousness now.”
TNT came away with a 20-point victory despite trailing by six points at the half. Reyes said the Tropang GIGA weren’t able to achieve their objective of playing solid 48 minutes of basketball, but was nevertheless happy with the win.
Reyes said he looks forward to TNT continuing to improve each day.
“We are just focusing, like I keep on saying, on what we have now and the team that I have now and finding ways to hopefully get better everyday,” said the former Gilas Pilipinas coach.
"As proud as I am with our past with Talk ‘N Text, that’s not going to help us win games," Reyes added.
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