Calvin Oftana was a man on a mission in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals, dropping 31 points and 10 rebounds in leading the TNT Tropang 5G to a 101-94 victory that knotted the series at one game apiece.
He later chalked up his double-double to a good night’s sleep.
“I think maganda lang ’yung tulog ngayon,” said Oftana in the postgame presser after TNT’s Game 2 win over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
Oftana Repays TNT’s Trust in Him
But, turning serious, Oftana bared what’s really fueling him—and, in particular, what prompted his Game 2 explosion on Friday.
“I think ’yung kumpiyansa naman sa sarili, hindi naman mabibigay ng mga kasama ko ’yun, ng mga coaches ko. Ang tiwala lang nila ’yung kailangan ko,” Oftana shared. “And ’yung tiwala na ’yun, ayun ’yung nagpapabuhos sa akin na maglaro pa. I played for 40 minutes again, so pahinga lang and move forward na ulit sa Game 3. Happy lang ako.”
Throughout Game 2, the former San Beda Red Lion showed that trust is well placed, leading TNT’s first-half charge with 17 points in the first 24 minutes and then making big play after big play in the second half to quell every one of Ginebra’s rallies.
Scoring Is Secondary to Winning
Despite scoring a conference-high 31 points, Oftana later emphasized that winning takes precedence over scoring—always.
“’Di naman kailangan talagang umiskor ng marami kung mananalo naman kayo e,” he stressed.
The Gilas Pilipinas mainstay might be right. With TNT’s firepower, Oftana doesn’t need to drop a 30-piece every single game—in part because guys like Chris McCullough, Jordan Heading, RR Pogoy, Rey Nambatac, and even Jayson Castro can explode at any given time. What’s more, TNT boasts an elite defense, and it stifled Ginebra for most of Game 2.
Then again, an aggressive and ultra-efficient Calvin Oftana makes TNT even harder to beat.
And that’s why the Tropa and the rest of TNT Nation are hoping he gets a good night’s sleep again ahead of Game 3.
