DESPITE not getting the well-round performance coach Chot Reyes wanted, TNT still manhandled Terrafirma 127-107 yesterday to book a quarterfinals seat in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Tropang Giga’s offense more than made up for what their defense lacked as they outgunned the Dyip in every quarter enroute to their fourth straight win that jacked their record to 6-4 and earned them inclusion among the eight teams advancing to the next round.
Another win against NorthPort at eliminations’ end on Friday and TNT would finish within the top four with a win-once advantage in the quarterfinals that comes with it.
First, however, the Tropa must still polish their game to the form Reyes desires.
“I hope we’re not yet peaking because there’s still a lot of things for us to work on in our game,” he said. “Our defense was terrible today, just horrible.
“The good thing is, there are still a couple more games and I know we’re in for a very, very tough battle on Friday against NorthPort. They’re the hottest team in the league now so that way we’re gonna be tested. Let’s see how we play there. If we defend them like we did tonight we’ll be in trouble.”
TNT’s offense left little to be desired, however, as Aaron Fuller’s 24 points and 12 rebounds led a balanced attack that took its toll on Terrafirma right in the opening quarter and the rout becoming a very distinct possibility when the Tropa led by as much as 90-71 late in the third period.
After being held to just four points in the first half, Mikey Williams heated up in the last 24 minutes to finish with 16 points, six assists and four rebounds while Jayson Castro chipped in 15 points and six dimes of his own. Poy Erram and Kib Montalbo scored 12 markers apiece.
What obviously pleased Reyes was the fact TNT had a 74-42 advantage in points in the paint, although it was not originally part of the plan. “Our offense is such that we just take what the defense gives us,” he said.
“I thought they were doing a good job running our shooters in the three-point line, we couldn’t make our shots early. So we went to where we thought we had another advantage. Our big guys did a good job there.”
Terrafirma ended another disappointing campaign on a five-game losing skid to drop to 2-9 as it formally failed to get past the eliminations anew.
Antonio Hester had 30 points and 13 rebounds, while Ed Daquioag had 19 points. Joshua Munzon had 16 points for the Dyip, who missed the services of the injured Juami Tiongson.
“We caught a break when one of their best players didn’t play tonight. That was a big break for us,” said Reyes of Tiongson, who averages close to 18 points a game but sprained his right ankle in practice.
Erram joined hands with Troy Rosario and Glenn Khobuntin in a 12-2 run for that initial 19-point lead before Fuller’s last basket of the game off a layup kept TNT ahead at 120-101.
