TNT Tropang 5G's ability to come through in the face of adversity undergoes another acid test when it battles an equally determined Rain or Shine crew Sunday in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals matchup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Tropa have a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series following a 113-105 overtime win last Friday, a victory fashioned despite star guard Roger Pogoy leaving the game for good right in the opening seconds of the second period due to a suspected hamstring injury.
Pogoy is expected to sit out Game 3 and while TNT is hoping the best for the long-time Gilas player, coach Chot Reyes maintained the team remains firmly concentrated on quelling the expected fierce fightback from the Elasto Painters.
"Focus on Game 3, that's the only thing that's within our control now, that's the one thing that's in front of us," said Reyes moments after the follow-up to their 98-91 win in the series opener last Wednesday.
"So we have no choice, to go to Game 3 with whoever it is that we have," added Reyes. "We cannot relax, whatever the series score is... we have to continue. So this win is big but I think getting another win, Game 3, is going to be bigger."
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Calvin Oftana picked up the scoring cudgels for TNT, eventually finishing with a gamehigh 39 points and led the Tropa's 8-0 run in OT that gave them an irrepressible 109-101 spread.
It is not just Oftana, however, as the likes of Jordan Heading, Kelly Williams, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and even Kim Aurin, Mike Nieto, Almond Vosotros did their part.
Rain or Shine is now trying to avoid a very deep hole which it fell into following a game in which it partly solved one big problem posed by TNT but got struck down by another of its own doing.
"We missed 14 free throws. If we just made one free throw before regulation time, that could have been the game," said coach Yeng Guiao, whose E-Painters worked extra hard off the boards and emerged with a 57-53 rebounding edge, a stark contrast to their 44-59 deficit in Game 1.
"To miss 14 free throws in a really close game, I think that's really disappointing. I was putting emphasis on that doon sa talk namin sa dugout," added Guiao. "In close games, kailangan talaga you're a professional. You must be making at least 80 percent of your free throws."
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Also a key factor was the shooting foul committed by Gian Mamuyac on Oftana, who was trying to launch one from way out in the last eight seconds. Oftana made all free throws to knot the count at 99-all and eventually force OT.
"Just a bad decision to foul Calvin when he was desperately looking for a three-point shot. Yun ang sinasabi ko sa team namin," said Guiao, who nevertheless was pleased by his players' performance in general.
"The effort was there and I'm really happy with the effort, an incredible effort. We led, they led, we came back, overtime. So it was an exciting game, but we couldn't get the breaks. Breaks lang naman ang pagkatalo namin," stated Guiao. (NC)
