By REYNALD MAGALLON
TNT head coach Chot Reyes is seeing a tougher road in the PBA 50th Season as his team tries to replicate its success from the last season where it came close at winning a grand slam.
Reyes noted that most teams have improved in the offseason, especially after injecting young and talented players through the rookie draft – a luxury that the Tropang 5G didn’t have.
“We all know how much every team has upgraded. And because we didn’t have a first or second round pick, we were kind of limited in that regard unlike the other teams,” said Reyes.
But if there’s something that TNT has the edge over the other teams, it is certainly the teams level of experience especially after reaching as far as the finals of all of the three conferences and actually even winning two.
“But if you look back at last season, I thought we performed pretty well. So it’s a matter of continuing that improvement. We are by no means satisfied with how we finished the season.
And we hope to be able to improve on our last all-Filipino season,“ said the veteran coach.
“Like I said, it’s going to be very, very difficult. The other teams are certainly going to have a huge target on our backs. So we have to do our best,“ he added.
Learning from last year’s Philippine Cup run where the team had to deal with manpower issues, Reyes has scoured free agency and added players who can contribute to the team.
The Tropang 5G added Kevin Ferrer and Tyrus Hill through free agency although Reyes said the team still needs to be at their tip-top shape against the tougher competition.
For one, they are still expected to miss the services of Poy Erram and Jayson Castro to start the season.
“Kudos to the management and coaching staff of almost all the teams. They really did a great job recruiting and upgrading their roster. And like I said, unfortunately we didn’t have that luxury,” stressed Reyes.
“But still, I’ll never sell my team short. Because I think what we have learned is really how to continue fighting. And we developed a lot of grit in the process. So hopefully, that’s going to be enough,” he added.
