FRESH from its conquest of top seed NLEX in their quarterfinal duel, TNT resumes its PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup title-retention bid in Game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinal series against Meralco Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Game time begins at 5:15 p.m., with the Tropang 5G looking to ride on their momentum against Bolts, who also had to beat the Magnolia Hotshots twice in the quarterfinals to reach the Final Four.
TNT became just the fifth eighth-seeded team in league history to beat a top seed, joining the elite company of Barangay Ginebra (1999 All-Filipino Cup), San Miguel (2002 Governors' Cup), Powerade (2011-12 Philippine Cup), and NorthPort (2019 Governors' Cup).
The second game is set at 7:30 p.m. features Barangay Ginebra and Rain or Shine.
Bol Bol will be spearheading the Tropang 5G’s back-to-back Commissioner’s Cup title aspirations, with veterans Calvin Oftana, Roger Pogoy, Jayson Castro, along with Rey Nambatac and Jordan Heading, providing the fireworks among the locals.
The 7-foot-3 Bol, a cinch to win the Best Import, is a one-man wrecking crew, who averages 37.6 points, 14.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks this conference.
Meanwhile, the Gin Kings know they will have their hands full contending against the hungry Elasto Painters.
Ginebra, the second seed in the playoffs, overwhelmed the no. 7 ranked Phoenix, 112-81 in their quarterfinal face-off.
Rain or Shine, on the other hand, returned to the Final Four after booting out powerhouse San Miguel Beer, 112-103.
Ginebra rolled past Rain or Shine, 114-90 in their lone elimination round duel.
But as far as coach Tim Cone is concerned, that’s the past.
“I just know how hard it is to go up against (coach) Yeng Guiao and his team. They play the game extremely hard; they play the game extremely fast. They compete all the time, and they can wear you down in a seven-game series because of their defense and who they go to,” admitted the Barangay Ginebra coach.
“So there’s a lot of concern going in against a team like that.”
And the Gin Kings will have to be prepared to run and defend the Elasto Painters, a team that thrives in transition game built around its solid guards led by Andrei Caracut, Anton Asistio, Gian Mamuyac, Adrian Nocum, along with scrappy forward Jhon Clarito, Caelan Tiongson and import Jaylen Johnson.
ROS’ hungry bunch can also shoot well from a three-point distance, something the team demonstrated in the quarterfinals after peppering SMB with 19 threes.
That game also saw Caracut unload six triples, while Tiongson, a hard-nosed defender, had seven.
