MANILA, Philippines — Top seed TNT hasn’t lost back-to-back games throughout the 46th PBA Philippine Cup tournament.
And that’s the trend the Tropang Giga aim to keep tonight as they shoot for a commanding 3-1 series lead against Magnolia in Bacolor, Pampanga.
The Tropang Giga absorbed a 106-98 loss last Sunday, allowing the Hotshots to cut their deficit in the best-of-seven series to 2-1 heading to the 6 p.m. game at the Don Honorio Ventura State U Gym.
It was actually a double-whammy for TNT as forward Troy Rosario sustained a “spinal shock” and “open finger dislocation” that left him “doubtful” for Game 4.
Full complement or not, TNT’s resolute crew is ready to carry out the mission.
“We just prepare the best we can for each game,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes, whose troops have repeatedly shown their capability to bounce back from a big setback in their 4-3 victory over San Miguel Beer in the semifinals.
Blown out in the first two games, the Hotshots returned to their “old ways” to avoid falling into a deep 0-3 hole while getting into position to tie it all up at 2-2.
“As long as we stick to our system and play (good) defense, we have a chance (against TNT),” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero.
Though successful in clamping down on the likes of RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro, Magnolia’s defense continues to be baffled by hot-shooting TNT rookie Mikey Williams.
In Game 3, Williams dropped 39 points on a record-setting 10 triples against every defender Victolero threw at him – from pesky guard Jio Jalalon to frontliner Rome dela Rosa and even slotman Rafi Reavis.
“We put a lot of defensive schemes on Mikey. Kung ano’ng kailangang gawin, gagawin namin,” said the Hotshots mentor.
Notes: Magnolia duo Calvin Abueva and Ian Sangalang and TNT’s Mikey Williams loom as the top contenders for the Davco-PBA Best Player of the Conference accolade, which the league will award tonight.
Also in the running are comebacking stars June Mar Fajardo of semifinalist San Miguel Beer and Robert Bolick of quarterfinalist NorthPort…The PBA technical committee yesterday upgraded from flagrant foul-penalty 1 to FFP2 “with no suspension” the infraction of Magnolia’s Jackson Corpuz that led to TNT’s Troy Rosario’s bad fall…Also upon review, the technical group admitted the “wrong call” slapped on TNT’s Brian Heruela as he challenged Paul Lee’s three-point attempt.
“We made a wrong call, we admit that, no excuses,” said deputy commissioner Eric Castro. “We have to move on and do a better job in the next games, plain and simple.”...The referee involved, Kenny Hallig, has been removed from the pool of game officials for the rest of the title series.