Loss gives Reyes hope TNT can compete vs ‘big boys’

TNT fell short of beating rival San Miguel in Sunday night’s Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup double-header in Antipolo City.

But head coach Chot Reyes feels that his charges still gave a good account of themselves in the 91-89 loss that had them dropping to 2-2 (win-loss) in the race.“Pretty satisfied,” he said shortly after the clash at Ynares Center. “We caught San Miguel [in] a very hot shooting night … and we still came within a possession from beating them. We missed a ton of free throws. Had we made half of [them], the story would’ve been different.”

“Like I’ve told the players, there were a lot of things to take away: We could compete with the big boys, that’s No. 1,” he added.

The Tropang Giga stared at holes as big as 15 points before making things truly interesting in the fourth quarter where they forged a 72-all deadlock early into the period.

Jayson Castro, the club’s fleet-footed star, led that late fightback with new guy Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser having a chance to pluck the win from the clutches of the Beermen in the dying moments of the game.

“We just had plenty of little mistakes,” Reyes said. “Can you imagine if we just made one less mistake? Not even a big mistake but just one less little mistake from the players.”

No restTNT could’ve been 3-1 in the race, joining sister team NLEX and NorthPort among early achievers in the centerpiece showcase. Now, it’s at the bottom half of the standings, just behind early surprise leaders NorthPort, Terrafirma and even Blackwater.

The fumbled chance all the more reinforced Reyes’ eagerness to make use of the All-Star and Holy Week break to the hilt.

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“We’ve already planned a schedule. It’s just going to be a question of balancing rest [while] still staying sharp,” he said.

“We don’t plan on taking breaks. If we do, maybe only on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. That’s about it. The other days, we’ll just keep at it. We got to stay sharp as we plan to do a lot (in practices).” he said.

TNT will get to know the fruits of their extra labor when they plunge back into action against one of the conference’s early leaders in NorthPort in a clash slated April 5. INQ