Chot Reyes and the TNT Tropang 5G had a plan against the Meralco Bolts in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semis clash: match the Bolts’ energy and effort. Without Bol Bol in Game 3, the Tropa needed to tweak that mindset just a little bit.
Now, instead of matching Meralco in the effort and energy department, TNT had to exceed the Bolts in both.
“We knew coming into this series that for us to beat Meralco, even when we had Bol, we said we had to match their energy and their effort,” Reyes said after TNT eked out a 77-75 thriller of a win over Meralco on Sunday. “Yesterday [Saturday], our discussion was, because we’re all-Filipino, without Bol, we cannot match Meralco’s energy and effort. We have to overcome it. We have to find a way to put in more energy, put in more effort than Meralco.
“That’s the only way we’ll have a chance.”
TNT Rises to the Occasion
On Sunday, it certainly looked like TNT put forth more effort and energy than Meralco. Other than the rebounding, the Tropa beat out the Bolts in the effort plays, getting more steals (7-6), tallying more blocks (3-0), and forcing more turnovers (15-11).
Reyes himself thought so.
“I think that’s the story. That’s how the game panned out,” he said. “Not a nice game, very ugly game for us offensively. Couldn’t make shots. We hit only 25 percent of our three-point shots because Meralco puts a defensive team… We were just able to manage and stay in the game with our defense as well….”
Game 3 was a defensive battle all right, with neither team breaching the 80-point barrier. But, in the end, it was the Tropa who found the net one last time—an RR Pogoy pull-up trey in the face of Cliff Hodge—to nudge ahead, 77-75.
“We still kept on fighting… As long as you don’t give up, you always give yourself a chance,” Reyes pointed out.
Indeed, the Tropa gave themselves a chance. And now they’re halfway to another PBA Finals appearance.
