REY Nambatac remains confident about TNT’s chances of forcing a Game 7 decider in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner's Cup Finals after his fine individual effort offensively in Game 5 went for naught.
The former Letran star find solace from the fact that despite TNT not bringing its A game and breaking down defensively on Sunday, Ginebra still needed the heroics of Scottie Thompson and Justin Brownlee to pull through in the end.
READ TNT ready for final stand as Poy apologizes to squad
“I think one of the positive side naman sa pagkatalo namin, kahit medyo okay ‘yung offense namin and medyo struggling kami sa defense, nandoon pa rin kami sa [endgame],” said Nambatac.
Nambatac is in the hunt for a Finals MVP award if TNT wins a second championship this season, averaging 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists ahead of Game 6 on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Nambatac scored 19 points and shot 6 of 11 from the field in Game 5 - a rare bright spot for a TNT team that only shot 25 of 76 (32.9 percent) from the field in its 73-66 loss to Ginebra.
The Gin Kings, on the other hand, shot 29 of 71 from the field (40.8 percent) while limiting Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Calvin Oftana to eight points.
“Kailangan lang siguro naming i-polish pa ng maayos ‘yung defense namin kasi doon nagsisimula. Kapag maganda ‘yung defense namin, maganda rin ‘yung offense namin. Maganda ‘yung outcome ng offense,” said Nambatac.
TNT was already ahead, 45-35, at the half but only scored 11 points in the third quarter as momentum shifted to the side of Ginebra.
But Nambatac said it was still TNT’s defense, or lack thereof, that allowed the momentum to swing to the other side.
“Hindi namin ma-contain ng maayos ‘yung momentum namin kasi we had that 10-point lead sa start ng third quarter. We couldn’t keep that lead so ang nangyari, ang bilis bumaliktad ng momentum.
"Ang ending, nag-collapse kami sa defense which is ‘yung bread and butter namin,” the the 31-year-old added.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
