The real Troy finally shows up

Inside the bubble

SMART CLARK GIGA CITY, Pampanga, Philippines — Just when TNT was in need of a hero after star guard Ray Parks Jr. went down with a calf injury, the others heeded the call to help the Tropang Giga stay alive in the bubble.

One of them was Troy Rosario, who finally exorcised the ghosts of his horrendous 6.6-point semis average against Phoenix with 15 points on an efficient 7-of-9 shootingclip in the Tropang Giga’s huge 88-67 Game 3 win against Ginebra.

“‘Yung sense of urgency talagang nandoon. Gusto ko talagang bumawi. Yung Troy na aggressive lagi yun ang gusto kong makita. Happy ako na ibang Troy Rosario yung nagpakita ngayon,” said Rosario, who has been carrying to burden of the pandemic, the flooding in his Cagayan hometown and the time away from his family for two months inside the bubble.

From here on, he’s ready to shrug it all off.

“Gaya ng taon na ‘to, nagsimula tayo sa mahirap, ang daming struggles. Gaya rin ng bubble na ‘to, bago tayo makarating dito, ang dami rin natin pinagdaanan. Kailangan lang natin talaga to fight through it.”

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Anchor Poy Erram also stepped up big time for TNT by limiting Japeth Aguilar to 10.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in the last two games after a monster 25-16 outing in Game 1.

“Team defense namin yung susi doon. Team sport ito. At the end of the day, ginagawa ko lang yung best ko at iyon ang importante,” Erram told The STAR after feasting on Aguilar with 12 markers, 14 boards and two blocks.