GAMES TODAY
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5 p.m. – NorthPort vs. TNT
7:30 p.m. – Meralco vs. Ginebra
DESPITE playing with a depleted roster, TNT has racked up four straight wins with a fifth in a row expected to come at the expense of free-falling NorthPort.
That is, if and when the Tropang 5G keep on doing what they’re doing in that scintillating winning run.
“Our approach is just to make sure to get better every game and to do that, we have to make sure we get good practices,” TNT coach Chot Reyes said. “That’s the only way we can compete. With our lack of manpower, we don’t have the depth and the talent of the other teams, so we have to be connected.
“So, that the sum of our parts becomes greater than the whole and I think that’s the only way we can compete. We just have to accept who we have and make do with the cards we’re dealt with,” he added.
Whether Reyes’ charges can hack it anew will be known when they go up against the Batang Pier today in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The match is set at 5 p.m. before Ginebra and Meralco stoke their quarterfinals bid at 7:30.
TNT fashioned a 111-103 victory over Rain or Shine last week that hiked the triple crown-seeking Tropang 5G’s mark to 4-3 before making a big move last Wednesday—sending disgruntled star guard and former two-time finals MVP Mikey Williams to Converge for Jordan Heading.
The trade has yet to get the nod from the pro league’s commissioner’s office at press time last night.
The likes of Roger Pogoy, Calvin Oftana, JP Erram, and Kelly Williams will be counted upon by TNT.
NorthPort has lost six straight, including a 97-106 setback to Magnolia over the weekend in Canton City, Ilocos Sur.
Coincidentally, the Batang Pier shipped rising star William Navarro to the Hotshots in exchange for veteran forward Calvin Abueva, Jerrick Balanza, and a second-round pick in the 51st season Draft.
Who among the teams thrives as the season-ending tilt’s eliminations reach crunch time?
