WINNING IN WAIT
The approval of the Jordan Heading-Mikey Williams trade TNT has been waiting for didn’t come out for the second straight day. But that hasn’t taken the Tropang 5G away from the thing they have been doing well lately.
TNT continued its remarkable turnaround from a 0-3 start in the PBA Philippine Cup, getting a lift from two returning players in scoring a 94-70 rout of a severely undermanned NorthPort side on Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite a fifth straight win, the questions were all about the celebrated trade.
“I don’t want to comment on it until it gets the approval of the PBA office,” coach Chot Reyes said when pressed about the deal as it is no secret that Heading could come in handy for the Grand Slam-seeking side.
Sources though, said there’s a sense of puzzlement within the TNT camp, given that the swap seems good enough for an immediate green light with Heading and Williams being equal or almost equal talents.
Heading had expressed excitement playing for the Tropang 5G, but the southpaw guard may have to wait a bit longer.
As the Tropang 5G continue to play the waiting game, they’re glad to run roughshod on the shorthanded Batang Pier behind Almond Vosotros and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.
Vosotros sparked the second quarter pull away by knocking down three triples before adding another one in the fourth to finish with 12 points in an impressive TNT return for the former 3×3 star.
TNT didn’t renew Vosotros’ contract after the team’s Commissioner’s Cup title run, and it appeared there was no chance of a return until the Tropang 5G came calling following an injury to rookie Jielo Razon.
“Since I was not renewed by TNT, I made sure that I would still take care of my body because you’ll never know if I’ll get called,” said Vosotros, who had actually booked a family trip for Japan when TNT came calling.
Away for a year
Ganuelas-Rosser came back from a year-long absence due to an ACL injury and finished with five points, eight rebounds and one block off the bench, giving TNT more options at the frontcourt position and additional help for Poy Erram.
Five more players scored in double figures in Calvin Oftana, RR Pogoy, Simon Enciso, Kelly Williams and Erram as TNT pummeled a NorthPort side that also had a rough day off the court.
The Batang Pier were eliminated from playoff contention after going down to 1-7, playing minus Calvin Abueva, who was taken from the Magnolia Hotshots for William Navarro. But Abueva has yet to report to NorthPort since the deal, according to an unnamed member of the team.
The loss also came on the same day that its now-former star gunner Arvin Tolentino had signed with the Seoul SK Knights as their Asian import for the next Korean Basketball League season.
SK made the announcement on its social media accounts as Tolentino replaces another Filipino in Juan Gomez di Liaño on the Knights roster.
Joshua Munzon finished with 20 points for the depleted Batang Pier.
