Standing tough
Coach Chot Reyes refused to pin the blame on anyone except himself for the way TNT started its PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series against Meralco on Sunday.
“That’s on me,” he said. “We prepared a game plan that [Meralco was] able to pick apart. You cannot attribute the slow start to any single player.”
But Reyes also heaped praises on his players for being able to turn things around and claim a 100-95 victory at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, drawing first blood in their best-of-seven affair.
Calvin Oftana was one of those who sparked the Tropang 5G’s turnaround from deficits of 21 points in the first half and 62-46 at the break to secure the victory before a big crowd to begin the new year.
Oftana finished with 28 points for TNT, but it was the team’s collective effort on the defensive end that helped set up opportunities on the offensive side.
“We gave up 62 points in the first half, but then when we hunkered down in the second half, we made some adjustments,” Reyes said. “We held them to 33 points, which really is more to our liking, defensively.”
Game 2 is set on Wednesday at the same venue, with TNT hoping to make it two in a row over its fellow team inside the MVP Group.
And by no means is Reyes going to make his team be too comfortable with just winning Game 1 in such a manner.
“We told them to put themselves in the position of Meralco,” Reyes said. “They are chomping at the bit to get back at us. And you saw that with the kind of energy, execution.
“We got a first-hand taste of that, so hopefully in Game 2, we are more ready to play from the start.”
Overhauled
Meralco unleashed a furious first quarter led by former University of the Philippines ace CJ Cansino, who scored 13 of his 14 in that stretch. The Bolts would extend their margin to 52-31 in the second quarter before the Tropang 5G inched their way back.
Oftana also got some support from Rey Nambatac, Jordan Heading, RR Pogoy and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, but it was the veteran forward who would relish having a hand in TNT’s possession down the stretch.
His three-point play and pass for a Ganuelas-Rosser basket gave the Tropang 5G a 96-91 lead, time down to 2:33. But TNT also got some good breaks as well.
Meralco’s Chris Newsome missed a layup that could have put the Bolts up 97-96, while Jansen Rios missed a tough three that would have tied the count at 98-all in the final seconds.
Meanwhile, top-ranked San Miguel Beer, also the defending champion and Barangay Ginebra were also playing the opener of their separate series at press time.
