Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser was among the heroes for the TNT Tropang 5G in their crucial win over the Macau Black Knights on Friday to improve their standing in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup. The burly yet athletic big man scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half on 7-for-9 shooting and added 7 rebounds and a block in just over 31 minutes of action.
For TNT coach Chot Reyes, those 31 minutes mattered—a lot. It meant BGR was able to stay in the game and contribute to the Tropa’s cause.
“There is no secret that Brandon is a big part of our game. He’s normally our indicator,” Reyes said of Ganuelas-Rosser. “If he’s playing well, if he has a healthy plus-minus differential, then most of the time our team wins. You saw that today… That’s one. But the big value for us defensively is his ability to switch out as well—his ability to defend big guys, but also his ability to switch on smaller guys.”
Put simply, Ganuelas-Rosser can bring so many things to the table for TNT. But that’s all contingent on him staying on the court—and that’s exactly what he did against Macau.
“We always talk about him staying on the court, not getting into foul trouble, so that he can play extended minutes,” Reyes added.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, TNT’s Mr. Intangibles
For BGR, his superb showing against Macau was just another day at the office—never mind if his stats, while solid, weren’t the eye-popping kind.
“I just did my job. Like coach says, staying on the court is the biggest thing,” he told reporters. “A lot of things I pride myself on aren’t really found in this stat sheet. I know that’s my role on this team. More than anything else I did tonight, just being on the court, being in the right position, getting stops when we need to—that’s what I pride myself on.”
In short, Ganuelas-Rosser is bringing the intangibles to TNT—and Reyes and his staff are taking notice.
“What Brandon said, it doesn’t show up in this stat sheet, but we have our own heart stats, our hustle stats. And I think Brandon led the team tonight in keeping the ball alive, in offensive rebound touches…” Reyes bared. “We track that, and that’s an important part of what he brings to the team.”
But again, all of that depends on whether Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser can stay on the floor. On Friday, against Macau, he did.
