The TNT Tropang 5G started the PBA Philippine Cup 5-1 and were beginning to look fearsome after an early blip against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. But then the Tropa lost back-to-back games—first against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters before the league took a three-week break, and then to the San Miguel Beermen when action resumed.
Both times, TNT coach Chot Reyes knew exactly where his team lacked: consistency. Against Rain or Shine, the Tropa raced out to an early 31-18 lead, were still ahead 54-46 at halftime, and looked poised to blow out the Elasto Painters. But TNT slipped up some in the third and completely unraveled in the fourth, scoring just eight points as Yeng Guiao’s wards authored the comeback victory.
Against San Miguel, TNT was in the game in the first half, matching the defending PBA Philippine Cup champions point for point before entering intermission ahead, 47-43. Then, the Tropa gave up 39 third-quarter points and scored only 19 to let the game get out of hand.
Reyes Appeals for Consistency
With such ebbs and flows in performance, Reyes naturally made it a point to emphasize consistency as TNT prepared for the all-important matchup with the NLEX Road Warriors.
“We wanted to play a complete game. We’ve lost our past two games because both times we started really well, and then we faltered in the second half. So, coming into this game, our theme the whole practice was to put a complete game together and play well for 48 minutes,” said Reyes after TNT showed that consistency in its win over NLEX on Saturday.
It was certainly a complete, consistent effort against NLEX as TNT played well and hard from the opening tip to the final whistle. In fact, the Tropa won every quarter—26-20, 30-29, 30-23, 33-28—on their way to their sixth win against three losses.
With the playoffs looming and the jockeying for seedings getting more intense, best believe TNT will be needing more of that consistency if they are to get back to the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
