THERE’S one phrase that coach Chot Reyes of defending champion TNT kept on saying in the aftermath of his charges’ emphatic 99-72 ripping of Ginebra in Game 5 last Wednesday night.
“We have to be ready.”
Whether that’s meant to be prepared in reaching the Promised Land anew or a big retaliation from the Kings will not matter if the Tropang Giga fail to heed Reyes’ challenge.
“At this point in the series, there’s very little each of the team can do na bago,” Reyes said.
“It’s just a matter of being able to play harder, play better, and execute more efficiently. We have to be ready,” he added.
TNT seeks to finish off Ginebra when they square off tonight in Game 6 of their best-of-7 finals showdown for the PBA Governors’ Cup crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The match is set at 7:30 p.m. with the Tropang Giga, holding a 3-2 lead, raring to wrap up the race-to-4 title battle and annex a second straight diadem in the tourney.
Reyes downplayed his team’s runaway 27-point win in Game 5.
“We are sure Ginebra is going to come out with a lot more urgency and we have to match that, if not out-energize them because we are not underestimating that team by any means. Not by a long shot,” Reyes said.
“We are already thinking about Game 6. We just need to be ready.
“We just need to be ready. He’s (Justin Brownlee) going to come hard as is the entire Ginebra team, so we need to make sure to stay on our toes and be prepared for a big (Kings) fight back in the next game.”
A winner-take-all Game 7, if necessary, is set this Sunday, Nov. 10, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The likes of reigning two-time best import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Calvin Oftana, Roger Pogoy, Rey Nambatac, and veterans Kelly Williams and Jayson Castro will be counted upon by the Tropang Giga to deliver in their bid to become the first squad to retain the diadem after Ginebra in the 2019 and 2021 Governors’ Cup.
Former MVP Scottie Thompson admitted their foes simply outplayed the Kings the last time out.
“Na-outplay nila kami. They came out really aggressive this game. That’s it,” Thompson said. “Iyong adjustment nila really worked for us, so it’s time for us na kami naman ang mag-adjust sa next game. Let’s put away everything. We just have to focus on that game,” he said.
“Whatever the past is, especially this game tonight, we have to keep moving forward come the next game and stay positive. Iyon lang.”
Thompson will team up with star reinforcement Brownlee, Japeth Aguilar, Stephen Holt, and Maverick Ahanmisi.
A sudden death should excite the fans of both teams, but this is for TNT to lose.
