The TNT Tropang 5G started the past week down four regulars and, at one point, down 16-0 to open a game. Somehow, Rey Nambatac made sure none of that mattered.
The guard’s stretch run from July 28 to August 2—a buzzer-beating triple against the Converge FiberXers and a productive follow-up win over the San Miguel Beermen—earned him the PBA Press Corps Player of the Week honor, his second of the ongoing 50th season of the PBA. He beat out Rain or Shine Elasto Painters guard Adrian Nocum and NLEX Road Warriors forward Schonny Winston for the nod, averaging 25.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists as the Tropang 5G climbed to 3-2 in Group A of the Governors’ Cup.
“As one of the leaders of the team, kailangan ko ipakita na lumalaban pa din tayo,” Nambatac said, and the numbers backed up the sentiment.
Nambatac Takes Charge
Timing made the run even more impressive. TNT went into the week without Calvin Oftana, Jayson Castro, Kelly Williams, and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, and the shorthanded situation only got worse mid-week when RR Pogoy went down with a knee injury and Jordan Heading hyperextended his shoulder in the second half against Converge. None of it stopped Nambatac.
Against the FiberXers, TNT trailed 16-0 out of the gate, the kind of hole that ends most games as a formality. Nambatac had other plans, finishing with 30 points and capping it with the game-winning three at the buzzer to steal a 110-107 win. Two days later against San Miguel, he followed with 21 points and 9 rebounds as TNT ground out a 93-89 overtime victory, getting a late boost from Kim Aurin’s two three-pointers down the stretch.
A team missing four regulars and bleeding two more to injury mid-week has no business climbing the standings. TNT did it anyway, and Rey Nambatac is the reason why.
