TNT, Meralco gun for quick semis entry

CEBU, Philippines —  The top-ranked TNT Tropang Giga and their sister-team, No.2 seed Meralco Bolts, train their sights on a quick semifinals entry as they take on separate foes in the 46th PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinal round today at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, both the TNT and Meralco needed only one win to march into the Final Four without any glitch.

The Tropang Giga could achieve that if they succeed in dethroning the defending champion Barangay Ginebra Kings in a rematch of last year’s finals scheduled at 6 pm.

It’s a reversal of roles this time, with the Tropang Giga now the favored side against the depleted Kings, who only kept their flickering title defense alive after prevailing over the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters in a do-or-die game last Saturday.

Making matters worse for the Kings is that they will be playing without injured center Japeth Aguilar. Also, Scottie Thompson remains doubtful in tonight’s do-or-die  match for Ginebra.

Short-handed they may be, Ginebra coach Tim Cone said they are up to the challenge.

“As of today (Tuesday), Scottie (Thompson) is still out and doubtful for the TNT game. We will remain shorthanded it seems, but the guys are in good spirits and ready to play,” Cone said in a report by PBA.ph.

“Our focus now is just preparing. We can’t worry about who’s not playing for us, we just roll with who we do have and move on,” the league’s most winningest coach added.

Like the Tropang Giga, the Bolts shoot for an outright semis berth when they clash with the NLEX Road Warriors in the 3 p.m. opener.

The Road Warriors are the obvious underdogs but the Bolts are now taking them lightly.

“We know that’s gonna be tough, it’s not gonna be easy,” Meralco chief strategist Normal Black pointed out.

The Bolts hope to ride on the crest of their four-game winning streak at the end of elimination.

That’s really the mindset they have.

“We wanted to go into the playoffs with some momentum. We did not want to go into the playoffs with a loss,” Black explained.

For NLEX to live and fight for another day, they must find a way to check Meralco’s balanced attack anchored on the likes of Anjo Caram, Allein Maliksi, Mac Belo, Bong Quinto, Alvin Pasaol, Chris Newsome and Reynel Hugnatan.

“A lot of guys have been stepping up. It’s just the next man up, as far as we’re concerned,” Black said.”We don’t know who the star of the game might be, but everybody supports everybody and whoever has a good night leads us.”