TNT head coach Chot Reyes. PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines – TNT still has a shot at Grand Slam glory, thanks to the fight the Tropang 5G put on in Game 5.
Head coach Chot Reyes had already saw it — from the body language to the fight in their eyes, it was just a matter of the buzzer sounding, with the Tropang 5G in the lead.
Reyes gave all the credit to his wards and their resilience as they moved up 2-3 in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals after taking down the mighty San Miguel Beer, 86-78, on a rainy Wednesday evening at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
READ: PBA Finals: TNT lives another day after Game 5 win over San Miguel
During the postgame press conference, Reyes shared his pep talk with his team before the match: he reminded them of what they've been through in Season 49 — a long, grueling battle that culminates in this last week.
He told his cogs, "Let's make this the best week."
"I saw a lot of fight and just an unwillingness to give up. Our discussion, our pre-game talk, was all about, you know, this has been a very, very long season, and we're down to our final week," Reyes said.
"And I said, 'let's make this the best week'. We'll just fight as hard as we can, and we'll see what happens," he went on.
"Luckily, I could see in yesterday's practice, and today, in the body language, and in the eyes of the players, that they were just not willing to give up."
That "fight" he saw turned into stats and triumph, led by Best Player of the Game Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, who posted an all-around showing of 18 points, five rebounds, five blocks, and three steals, headlining six Tropang 5G in twin-digit scoring.
Reyes said that they're "lucky" to hold off the Beermen to below 80 points, as their rivals shot a dismal 32.1 clip from the field.
The TNT crew was able to convert 20 points from turnovers, while the SMB side only had 12 points from those.
"And we've said that all year: as long as we show up, we don't give up, we give ourselves a chance. We were lucky that we were able to hold San Miguel down to below 80 points in this game."