GAME TODAY
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m. – TNT vs. Ginebra
TNT gunner Calvin Oftana wrapped the head of playmaker Rey Nambatac on his shoulders when the final buzzer sounded in Game 6 last Wednesday night.
Both players are hoping for the same triumphant ending, and with the biggest difference—when it’s all over, confetti will be raining down on their heads and the team lifting the shiny trophy.
To achieve their goal, the Tropang Giga must show up with grit and resolve, according to TNT coach Chot Reyes.
“We told the players before the game that this is our first do-or-die game with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Our first ever experience playing a win-or-go home game with him,” Reyes said. “So, I said what a great opportunity for us to learn about ourselves. I said, let’s just grab this opportunity, go out there, play hard.
“We just wrote on the board, compete. Compete. If we lose, we lose, but at least we’re not going to go down without a fight and credit to the guys, they just they just gave it their all,” he added.
In a fitting conclusion, the Tropang Giga take on the Kings tonight in Game 7 of their best-of-7 finals showdown for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title before another expected mammoth crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The no-tomorrow tiff is set at 7:30 p.m. for the right to be crowned as the mid-season tourney’s cage kings.
Reyes’ charges lived to fight another day after pulling off a nail-biting 87-83 victory in the sixth match before 17,654 fans last Wednesday night.
The likes of newly minted best import of the conference Hollis-Jefferson, Oftana, Nambatac, JP Erram, Roger Pogoy, and Kelly Williams will be counted upon by TNT in its drive for a big follow-up to its title conquest in the last Governors’ Cup.
“Nobody expected us to compete against this team. We were not even expected to get to the finals when we lost Jayson (Castro) in Game 4 of the Rain or Shine series,” Reyes said. “Then who would have thought that we would battle a team like that without last year’s finals MVP?
“So, I said, don’t let the pressure get to you and the best way I could show that to them was to give them the day off. Take the day off, relax, recover, recharge and then we came in last Tuesday and we just talked about things. Talked about what we needed to do for Game 6.”
Ginebra will draw strength from star import Justin Brownlee, who continues to play through a dislocated right thumb, former MVP Scottie Thompson, Troy Rosario, Japeth Aguilar, Stephen Holt, Jamie Malonzo, and rookie RJ Abarrientos to end a four-conference title dry spell.
The Big Dome will be another site of an expected new epic saga in the pro league—whoever emerges victorious.
