The TNT Tropang 5G got punched in the mouth early by the Meralco Bolts in Game 1 of their PBA Philippine Cup semis clash on Sunday. The Bolts, led by sophomore stalwart CJ Cansino, roared to a 38-26 first-quarter lead and extended it to 52-31 midway through the second as they picked apart the Tropa’s usually stingy defense.
TNT ultimately rallied for a 100-95 win, clamping down on the Bolts in the second half while putting up 56 big points. Afterward, Chot Reyes admitted that his troops’ slow start on the defensive end was partly his fault.
“That’s on me [TNT giving up 62 first-half points] because we prepared a game plan that they [Meralco] picked apart,” Reyes acknowledged in the postgame presser at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. “The players simply were following and executing the defensive game plan that we prepared, and Meralco just picked it apart. So, that’s on me… You cannot attribute it to any single player, the slow start, the players were simply following the game plan…”
A Tale of Two Halves for TNT
The Tropa may have given up 62 points in Game 1’s first 24 minutes, but they certainly made up for it by limiting Meralco to just 33 in the second half as that ferocious defense finally came to life.
But what keyed this defensive turnaround?
According to Reyes, he simply challenged his players to do something fundamental: contain the point of attack.
“Well, basically what we said at halftime, we just challenged the players to defend one-on-one. I thought in the first half we were relying too much on our help defense, and Meralco did a great job picking it apart…,” Reyes said. “At halftime, I told the players, whatever defensive scheme we come up with, if your man is getting all the way to the rim, to the basket, then no defensive game plan is going to work… I just told them to be fundamental and defend the point of attack better.”
Reyes’s wards heard him loud and clear, and the 33 points they surrendered in that second-half comeback is proof of the pudding, so to speak. And the multi-titled coach is emphasizing more of that smothering defense moving forward if TNT is to make it to the Finals again.
“We have to do a better job in Game 2 to defend that way, to just make sure that it’s difficult for Meralco to just break us down on the point of attack,” he further said.
