CHOT Reyes hopes the three day of rest going to the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals would be enough for TNT to have a healthy lineup against Rain or Shine in their best-of-seven series.
The injury-riddled Tropang 5G is naturally a concern for the veteran coach after grinding out a challenging quarterfinals matchup against third seed Magnolia Hotshots, who TNT needed to beat twice in a row to advance.
During the course of their battle with the Hotshots, the grand slam-seeking franchise lost veteran guard Brian Heruela to a sprain ankle, while rookie Jordan Heading continue to play with a bad back.
The injury to both guards left TNT with a depleted backcourt as main point guard Jayson Castro has long been lost for the season due to a right knee injury.
"At least it will give us three days of rest. Hopefully, not only Jordan (Heading), but also Brian Heruela," said Reyes of the needed break all four teams in the semis have gotten prior to the start of the Final Four on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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"Our focus really is rest and recover."
Heruela injured his ankle at the start of the playoffs and didn't suit up in TNT's 80-79 squeaker against Magnolia in their sudden-death game for a semis berth.
Heading meanwhile, had to play through pain of a back injury and finished with three points, two rebounds, and two assists, but made crucial plays down the stretch of the thrilling win.
"We have a very short rotation," said Reyes of TNT's backcourt, adding Heading had a hard time walking and didn't practice with the team the last couple of days.
"He (Heading) was a game time decision. Our trainers were turned in before the game (against Magnolia) to see if he could play," recalled the TNT mentor.
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But Reyes said the Tropong 5G somehow, managed to play the entire season competitively and won the first two conferences despite initially losing Castro, then Rey Nambatac, Jielo Razon, and earlier big men Henry Galinato and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser to injuries.
"I think we battled that for the whole year," Reyes pointed out.(RG)
