CHANGING THINGS UP
TNT came into the conference with a different moniker. Riding a winless start in three games, that wasn’t the only change the team needed to make.
The Grand Slam-seeking team’s long-awaited entry into the win column of the PBA Philippine Cup after a dreaded 0-3 start came after a realization that it can’t play the way it did when Rondae Hollis-Jefferson anchored the franchise to the last two titles and Jayson Castro provided leadership and stability.
“We can’t go back to the old TNT game, because this is a vastly different team without Jayson and Rondae,” acknowledged coach Chot Reyes after the Tropang 5G’s 89-84 victory over the San Miguel Beermen on Sunday at Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
With Calvin Oftana putting up his first career 20-20 game and Simon Enciso haunting his former team by making a couple of big plays down the stretch, TNT’s nightmarish opening act in the all-Filipino tournament finally ended and provided some ray of hope for a team that’s in the hunt for a triple crown.
The Tropang 5G began that chase by dropping their first two assignments to the NLEX Road Warriors and Converge FiberXers; that was understandable given that they were barely a month removed from winning the Commissioner’s Cup crown.
But a brutal 14-point defeat at the hands of Phoenix in Montalban, Rizal, where TNT fell by a high of 27, was considered inexcusable, prompting the team to take what Reyes described as a “brutal reflection.”
“We have to play our game with who we have. I think that simple realization worked wonders with the way the players played, with their effort and with their fight,” Reyes continued.
“I just told the players that, ‘Let’s write our own story.’ Let’s not write a story from the past or whatever. And hopefully this is the first step and the first chapter in our story.”
Oftana was among those who heeded that, producing 23 points and 21 rebounds to offset TNT’s height disadvantage against San Miguel and its record MVP winner, June Mar Fajardo.
“Coach Chot told us to just show up,” said Oftana. “That was the thing that we lacked in the past three games. There’s no more Rondae who can get the rebound, who can block those shots. Having said that, we put emphasis on me and Roger [Pogoy] helping on the boards because the more we get those rebounds, the more we can control the game.”
Talks with Mikey
And then there’s Enciso, who followed up an air ball with a corner three that put the Tropang 5G ahead, 86-80, with less than a minute left in the game. After making the shot, Enciso flashed his trademark arrow gesture toward the Beermen, with whom he won two championships during his stint from 2021 to 2025.
“Nah, I think I was just getting the emotions of the game getting into me,” Enciso said. “I was a little bit too excited, and so when I shot those two air balls, I just kept telling myself, I was like, ‘I’m gonna make a big shot, I’m gonna make a big shot.’”
He also accounted for the assist that enabled Pogoy to convert a corner trey with 13 seconds left to put TNT irreversibly ahead, 89-82, virtually.
TNT’s victory came amid the resurfacing of talks between the team and Mikey Williams.
But Reyes insisted that there’s little chance of Williams and TNT finally coming to terms this conference.
“Is that a good step? I think so. At least the communication lines are open,” said Reyes. “But like I said, we’re not banking on it.”
