PLEASE do not include TNT among the pre-season favorites in the coming PBA season.
No less than coach Chot Reyes made the plea himself, pointing out that the Tropang Giga still have “a long way to go” before shaping up into the kind of team he wants.
“Huwag muna kaming isama diyan, sa mga favorites-favorites na iyan,” Reyes told Malaya-Business Insight in a recent interview.
“Malayong-malayo pa kami,” added Reyes. “Still a long way to go.”
Since mid-May, most of the other PBA teams had to travel practically each day from Metro Manila to the provinces of either Batangas or Pampanga and back to conduct their full-scale preparations for the season expected to kick off in about three weeks’ time. TNT and Meralco opted for a bubble setup in Laoag City.
The closed-circuit routine enjoyed by the Tropa and Bolts is viewed as a big advantage for them by most since they have taken away the rigors of daily travels and outside distractions while focusing entirely on their practices.
Reyes agreed with that upside, saying: “From the point of view of the number of sessions, medyo lamang nga. Kasi nga, nakakapag-twice-a-day ka for practices, plus unlimited pa time mo for conditioning, team meetings.”
But his team is different from most of the others, contended Reyes. “Team ko, specifically, di ko alam kung may true advantage,” he said.
“‘Yung iba kasi practices na lang ginagawa nila,” Reyes pointed out. “They already have that built-in chemistry while kami natututo pa. Kaya, actually, from zero pa kami in terms of knowing each other, knowing the system, the program, unlike more established teams na halos set na.
“Siguro may ibang bago sa kanila, pero konting work na lang sa kanila iyon. For us, everything is practically new.”
Reyes himself is a prime example of his contention.
The eight-time champion and only five-time Coach of the Year awardee last coached in the PBA in 2012 to focus on the Philippine national team. He was re-appointed to TNT only last February amid government-enforced restrictions that limited personal interaction with his players and staff.
“Iyon ang nagpahirap sa trabaho namin kasi nga marami kang gustong gawin pero very limited naman ‘yung face-to-face mo with your players, unlike before na pagdating mo series of personal meetings agad,” said Reyes.
There’s also this problem about Mikey Williams, which came on the heels of Bobby Ray Parks Jr. abandoning the team shortly after the Tropa’s runner-up finish in last year’s Philippine Cup.
The Fil-Am guard made the No. 4 overall pick by TNT in last March’s draft has yet to join the Tropa, his arrival from the US repeatedly delayed and now projected to be next week.
“Ang problema yata sa kanya, hindi basta-basta nakakakuha ng flight, I think,” related Reyes. “Hindi naman puwedeng hintayin ng hintayin so we’re preparing as if there’s no Mikey.”