MANILA, Philippines — TNT has a grand aim in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup— defend its title and become the first eighth-seeded squad to win a league championship.
Of course, the Tropang 5G’s journey to the Finals wasn’t easy.
TNT entered the opening round of the playoffs as the eighth seed, where the Reyes-mentored squad had to beat top seed NLEX twice to reach the semifinal round.
In the Finals Four, TNT lost Best Import top candidate Bol Bol to a torn left Achilles in Game 2, forcing the team to a mad scramble to get his replacement over a week ago. Fortunately, TNT managed to beat Meralco despite playing all-Filipino in Game 3, thanks to Roger Pogoy’s game-winning three in the dying seconds.
Chris McCullough would go on to serve as the Tropang 5G’s import, as he brought veteran presence to TNT, which went on to overcome Meralco, 4-2 in their semis series.
“Unbelievable, coming from eighth place. Right? We have to win twice to get to the semis. And now we’re here,” said the TNT multi-title coach after Sunday’s game.
TNT became the first eighth-seeded squad since the Powerade Tigers to reach the Finals, which the latter managed to accomplish during the 2012 Philippine Cup.
Powerade failed to win the championship though agter bowing to Reyes’ TNT squad, 4-1 in the title series.
At present, Reyes is back in the Finals for the fifth straight time, and is hoping to rewrite history.
“As long as we’re getting there and giving ourselves opportunities. We’ll just take our chances,” he said.
