Despite Chris McCullough‘s 44-point explosion, the TNT Tropang 5G still fell short in Game 3 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
And for CMac, the Tropa’s flat start in Game 3 can’t just can’t happen again, not against Ginebra.
“We gotta come out better, we gotta start off the game better, we gotta have more sense of urgency once again,” said McCullough in a media scrum after the Tropa’s 116-102 Game 3 loss to Ginebra.
Repeating the Same Mistakes of Game 1
Explaining further, McCullough pointed out that TNT made the same mistakes as they did in Game 1, with the most notable being the amount of open three-pointers the Tropa surrendered—including three from Stephen Holt in the first quarter alone.
“We can’t give them threes like that in the first quarter. We came out sluggish, we came out with no energy…,” said the former champion with the San Miguel Beermen.
Back in Game 1, Ginebra was 13-for-27 beyond the arc, while in Game 4, the Gin Kings were 9-for-19.
Interestingly, the Tropang 5G did win the three-point shooting category as they shot 11-for-29 in Game 3.
“We just gonna come out better than what we did tonight, we came out the same way we came out in Game 1,” McCullough added.
Furthermore, TNT committed 13 turnovers to Ginebra’s 10 and had fewer assists (22) that Ginebra’s 27. In Game 1, the Gin Kings had 10 turnovers and 30 assists; the Tropa had 15 turnovers and 17 assists.
Act Like We Want It
More than the numbers, the 6-foot-10 big man added that the Tropa did not act like they wanted the victory. To this point, CMac noted that he and his teammates must collectively show more eagerness.
“And just you know, play basketball, it’s the finals, we act like we want it. Tonight, we ain’t deserve to win, we ain’t want it today, that’s it,” McCullough stressed.
McCullough, though, looked liked he wanted it. In fact, for a brief stretch in the third quarter, he was single-handedly keeping TNT in the game. Aside from firing 44 points, he also had 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks as he tried to will the Tropa to victory.
That wasn’t enought. And now CMac is hoping the Tropa can start better and play with more urgency.
