Games Today
(Ynares Center Montalban)
5:15 p.m. – TNT vs Magnolia
7:30 p.m. – Ginebra vs Titan Ultra
By REYNALD MAGALLON
TNT may have been sharing the top spot in the standings with Rain or Shine but head coach Chot Reyes was far from being satisfied especially with how his team has been playing as of late.
The veteran coach rued the lackluster showing from the Tropang 5G, who, if not for the late three-point barrage from Kelly Williams, could have been at the receiving end of a huge upset.
“Sometimes when you lose, you really win. And sometimes when you win, you really lose. And I think this is one of the times. The scoreboard shows that we won, but we really lost this game in my mind,” said Reyes after TNT’s 109-95 win over Terrafirma.
“Terrafirma completely outplayed us. We had no energy, we had no urgency. And we were lucky that Kelly bailed us out,” he added.
And that is surely a cause of concern for Reyes especially that up next for TNT is Magnolia in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Montalban, Sunday, Nov. 9
“We know that if that happens against Magnolia, we go down. We didn’t even score 20 points in each of the first two quarters against Terrafirma. And we all know Magnolia plays superior defense, much, much better defense than Terrafirma does, that’s going to be a big problem,” said Reyes.
Tip-off of that clash is at 5:15 p.m. before Titan Ultra and Barangay Ginebra duke it out for back-to-back wins in the second game at 7:30 p.m.
Of course, Magnolia should also be eager to immediately bounce back after dropping a close 94-92 loss to San Miguel just last Friday.
Like the Tropang 5G, the Hotshots overhauled an early 18-point deficit. The team, behind the efforts of Zav Lucero, Ian Sangalang and Jerom Lastimosa, looked to be on its way to victory if not for a late surge from the Beermen spearheaded by Don Trollano.
For TNT, though, Calvin Oftana and RR Pogoy need to break out of their shooting slump if they wish to have a chance against Magnolia’s stifling defense.
Meanwhile in the second game, the Kings are hoping to finally find its winning form and string together victories to improve their 2-3 record.
Following a tough schedule that saw it play SMB, Magnolia, Meralco, TNT and NLEX in a five-game stretch, Ginebra is looking to test the Titan Ultra which, on the other hand, will be banking on the 1-2 punch of Joshua Munzon and Calvin Abueva.
