WITH his feet firmly planted on the hardwood, coach Chot Reyes of defending champion TNT could only clap his hands on the defensive effort displayed by his charges after Ginebra guard Maverick Ahanmisi boomed in a four-pointer that beat the shot clock late in Game 4.
The fiery Reyes usually turns into a picture of frustration over plays like that. This time, he did not. It’s just one of those nights.
“Definitely, they have the momentum. It was the same thing with us. We had momentum after two games. Now it’s shifted,” Reyes said after the Tropang Giga fell to the Kings 92-106 last Sunday night. “That’s the finals. That’s basketball, our sport.
“In a seven-game series of two very good teams, the momentum can really shift both ways. They definitely have the momentum, and we have to find a way to stop it,” he added.
The challenge lying ahead for TNT is how to halt the bleeding when it takes on Ginebra tonight in the pivotal Game 5 of their best-of-7 finals duel for the PBA Governors’ Cup crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The game is set at 7:30 p.m., with the triumphant side gaining a 3-2 lead in the race-to-4 title series before another expected sellout crowd.
The sixth tiff is set this Friday also at the Big Dome and a sudden death Game 7, if necessary, will be played on Sunday, Nov. 10, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Ginebra tactician Tim Cone downplayed the Kings’ two straight big wins that leveled the Big Dance at 2-2 after falling 0-2 and making it a best-of-3.
“All we did was tie the series. It’s 0-0, it’s a best-of-three, so we can’t live off the last two games and feel good about that,” Cone said. “We have to keep moving forward, thinking forward
“That’s what we’ll be doing, trying to get forward thinking.”
The two-day respite should also work wonders for Ginebra.
“Japeth (Aguilar) is basically playing without a true back-up. Isaac Go (knee injury), is supposed to be his backup, so he’s being forced to play a lot of minutes,” Cone said. “We are really hard on Japeth. I mean, pushing, pushing, and pushing and, you know he’s such a great person that he does it and never gets upset. But we are really hard on him to keep going and it’s been a tough role for him so far.”
The likes of resident import Justin Brownlee, Aguilar, Ahanmisi, former MVP Scottie Thompson, Stephen Holt, and ace rookie RJ Abarrientos will be counted upon by Ginebra to deliver anew.
TNT will pin its hopes on reigning two-time best import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Calvin Oftana, Roger Pogoy, JP Erram, and Jayson Castro.
Reyes can forget their sorry two defeats as long as they fight back with a victory tonight and on Friday.
“If you asked me at the start of the series, after four games it was two-all. I’d say I’d take it and still be happy,” he said. “Best-of-3. We’re now 0-0.”
