JUMPING THE GUN
TNT and Rain or Shine collide, while NorthPort tests its mettle against Barangay Ginebra on Tuesday, thawing the ice on the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four.
The No. 2-seed Tropang Giga and the sixth-ranked Elastopainters meet again in a best-of-seven semifinal series, with TNT the obvious favorite thanks largely to its swift disposal of Rain or Shine in the last conference.
But coach Chot Reyes has been in this league so long that he knows history really does nothing to what’s at hand.
“All of the previous performances against them, they don’t mean much,” he said ahead of their Game 1 that tips off at 5 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
“They beat us the last time,” the champion coach pointed out, referring to the 106-96 thumping the Tropang Giga endured to close their elimination round campaign.
Barangay Ginebra, like TNT, lost to its semifinal foe during the first phase of the tournament. But the No. 4 Gin Kings have built a reputation—and an empire—out of turning things up a notch going into the knockout phase.
And against a top-seeded NorthPort with a lot to prove, the crowd darlings are looking to make the 7 p.m. clash no different.
The Gin Kings will have Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, and even Troy Rosario fresh from National Five duty, which means they have been playing on a high level for the past two weeks—something the Batang Pier weren’t able to do during the lull favoring Gilas Pilipinas’ bid in the Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers.
Still, NorthPort will have plenty to tap into, as they have been pining for the kind of respect that in this league, only a championship will be able to give.
‘We’ll be underdogs’
“We have a chip on our shoulder that people don’t even talk about NorthPort even if we are No. 1 (seed),” forward William Navarro said during the elimination phase.
“We’ll be underdogs no matter what happens. But we’re not satisfied (with the top seeding). We want more.”
Meanwhile, much of Reyes’ worries stems from rookie Caelan Tiongson and Deon Thompson, two standout Painters who weren’t with the team when TNT dispatched of Rain or Shine in five games of the Governors’ Cup semifinals last year.
“They’re very different. They’re a lot more mature and they have a different import, too,” Reyes said. “In the Governors’ Cup, they didn’t have Tiongson, and he has been big for them—a really big contributor.”
TNT still pretty much has the same squad that delivered the Governors’ Cup title last season, and the plus factor for the Tropang Giga are import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and gunner Calvin Oftana, who have been tearing it up with sustained brilliance here.
Hollis-Jefferson is No. 2 in the Best Import race, while Oftana is fourth in the Best Player of the Conference derby, their fine efforts allowing TNT to win nine of their first 13 games in the midseason showcase.
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, for his part, is looking forward to having another crack at the TNT puzzle, as solving it would finally give him and the franchise its first real shot at a championship since the 2016 season, when it ruled the same tournament.
“The experience from when we played them last time, that gives us more wisdom—a better perspective—on how to prepare against them,” Guiao said.
“I think we’re more ready this time.”
