FOR all the PBA championships they've won, TNT and Barangay Ginebra will go to the Governors Cup finals both as hungry teams.
Season 48 saw both the Tropang Giga and the Kings failing to advance in the title series of the two conferences at stake, giving both teams enough motivation to outdo each other and end their respective title drought.
"It's going to be really disappointing for us as an organization if we don't win this. And if we do win this, we're gonna be ecstatic," said Ginebra coach Tim Cone during the finals presser featuring the two teams on Thursday at the Enderun Colleges.
"Just very happy to be here (finals), playing against a tough team with an excellent coach, and I think in the end, magkakatalo yan on how the players execute and the team that's able to exert their own style," TNT counterpart Chot Reyes stressed.
The defending champion Tropang Giga won their last championship during the 2023 edition of this same conference when they beat the Kings in six games for the crown.
Twice they reached the quarterfinals last season, but bombed out in both the Commissioner's and Philippine Cups.
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The Kings meanwhile, was champion in the 2023 Commissioner's Cup, beating guest team Bay Area Dragons in the deciding Game 7 of their title series played before a record crowd of 54,589 at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
Last season, the team made the semifinals in back-to-back fashion, but lost both times, including a sudden-death Game 7 against eventual All-Filipino Cup champion Meralco.
"I always believed that you worked so hard to get to this point. Now it's almost like a do-or-die," said Cone on how he sees the latest title series between the two proud franchises.
"I think our players are ready. I'm sure that TNT is ready," he added. "Can't wait to get it on."
Game 1 of the best-of-seven series will be on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.(RG)
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