Can the TNT Tropang 5G really beat the San Miguel Beermen three times in a row to win the 2025 PBA Philippine Cup Finals and net the prestigious Grand Slam in the process?
They’re a third of the way there, but the task remains daunting to say the least.
But win or lose, don’t expect the Tropa to just roll over and hand the title to San Miguel on a silver platter. They will fight until the end—just as they did in Game 5 in eking out an 86-78 victory to extend the series to a Game 6 on Friday.
The victory extended TNT’s already long season to a record-tying 75th game on Friday at the PhilSports Arena, and with the end very much in sight, coach Chot Reyes and his team—or what’s left of it at this point—are looking to make a late splash by finishing with their best week in Season 49.
“I saw a lot of fight and just an unwillingness to give up. Our discussion, our pregame talk was all about how this has been a long season, and now we’re down to our final week. I said let’s make this the best week. We’ll just fight, and we’ll see what happens,” Reyes told reporters after Game 5.
The Tropang 5G fought in Game 5, all right, and what happened was they limited the mighty Beermen to 78 measly points and 38% shooting overall in yet another defensive masterclass—something TNT has dished out so many times already in Season 49.
No Quit TNT Looking for Repeat Fight Back
For Reyes, carving out a Cinderella ending to TNT’s Season 49 campaign will boil down to how much fight the Tropa have left. The equation is simple: Keep fighting to have a chance at winning.
“We’ve said that all year, as long as we show up, [and] we don’t give up, we give ourselves a chance,” Reyes pointed out.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser heard his coach loud and clear in Game 5. In fact, he epitomized TNT’s no-quit mindset, churning out an electric all-around performance that saw him make big plays on both ends to finish with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 blocks.
“Like coach said, we just wanted to leave it all out there. We’re down to our last week, our last couple of games, and he just asked for 48 hard minutes, all heart, and that’s what we did tonight,” Ganuelas-Rosser said as he echoed Reyes’s mantra.
But with a depleted and banged up lineup (Simon Enciso and Poy Erram are done for the season, while Calvin Oftana, RR Pogoy, and Jordan Heading are all nursing injuries), TNT will no doubt need more of that heart if they want to author that best week ending to what has been a dream season thus far.
“It’s been a very, very long season. The players are just playing on sheer grit and heart at this point,” Reyes said. “Whatever it takes, without Poy and without Simon, as long as we have five guys who can walk, we’re going to keep fighting.”
The Tropa fought and won in Game 5. They will look to do it again in Game 6.
