ANTIPOLO – TNT Tropang 5G assistant coach Josh Reyes offered no excuses after being handed their first loss of the PBA 50 Governors' Cup at the Ynares Center Antipolo on Wednesday.
The defending champions absorbed a 103-87 beating from the Titan Ultra Giant Risers, as they soldiered on despite a depleted lineup due to injuries.
What made matters worse was TNT had to finish the game without head coach Chot Reyes, whose frustration got him ejected with 9:29 left in the fourth quarter.
READ: Titan Ultra posts breakthrough win at TNT's expense
"Hindi. Parati naman emotions high yun eh," the younger Reyes told reporters when asked if he was surprised his father got thrown out of the game.
The TNT assistant coach gave credit to Titan Ultra's game plan, which translated into 19 fastbreak points in the first half alone.
"I think it's as simple as we're not in shape yet. And we couldn't keep up with the running. [Titan] did a good job turning the game into a track meet, taking advantage of their quickness and they got a lot of fastbreak points," the younger Reyes said.
"It just snowballed from there. Our offense wasn't as bad as it may seem... But we just couldn't keep up with the running game. In the end, we couldn't defend the next group anymore," he added.
Despite having several players still sidelined due to injuries, the TNT deputy did not want to use this as an excuse for the loss.
"It's easy to have that as an excuse, we're not complete, we're not in shape yet coming off our extended break. I think that's the biggest challenge eh. It's not basketball per se, it's the tediousness of everything," the younger Reyes said.
"We've been going on without breaks for five conferences. So the challenge for us is to how to get up every day, practice and get better. That we still have that eagerness and hunger to make ourselves better every day despite going through this for five or six conferences already," he added.
The TNT deputy is hopeful the Tropang 5G can rack up enough wins before the PBA goes on break from August 15 to October 6 for the 19th Asian Games.
"Good thing there's a break coming up. But kailangan namin matawid yun eh. So from tomorrow til the break we need to be able to hold the fort and still manage a respectable record," the younger Reyes said.
The Tropang 5G look to bounce back when they face the Terrafirma Dyip on Saturday in the same venue.