The TNT Tropang 5G is a win away from a fourth straight PBA Finals appearance, and they have Poy Erram to thank. The veteran big, who won a gold medal in the SEA Games last December with Gilas Pilipinas, came up huge for TNT, firing a game-high 27 points on top of 9 rebounds and 3 blocks to help the Tropa blow out the Meralco Bolts in Game 4 on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Crucially, Erram scored 21 points in the first half, or nearly half of the Tropa’s 45 points in the first 24 minutes of Game 4. Erram’s early outburst helped TNT carve out a 45-38 lead after two quarters, even with the team’s usual scorers—Calvin Oftana and Jordan Heading, specifically—still struggling.
TNT Adjustments Open Up Opportunities for Erram
TNT coach Chot Reyes was hardly surprised at Erram’s effort on offense. In fact, according to him, it was the game plan working to perfection as the Tropa looked to their bigs to counteract Meralco’s defense.
“When we reviewed the game, they came out with a great defensive game plan, and so we saw more clearly what they were doing, and we made the adjustment,” Reyes said after Game 4. “It’s the ability to make adjustments. And the reason why Calvin and Jordan weren’t getting their touches was because they did a great job denying. But when they do that, then it opens up the inside, and that’s why Poy did a great job capitalizing on that.”
In other words, Meralco is in a lot of trouble and might have to pick their poison, so to speak: stay on the Tropa’s scorers and let the bigs beat them, or spread out that defense even more.
“If they want to stay home on Jordan and Calvin to limit their touches, that’s going to open up the inside for guys like Poy, Brandon [Ganuelas-Rosser], and Henry Galinato, and that’s just something that we took a closer look at,” Reyes added. “I’m sure they’re going to make their adjustments, their counters for the next game, and we have to be prepared for that.”
Now, it’s the Bolts’ turn to make big adjustments
