Troy Rosario and Roger Pogoy take off their Gilas shirts and wear their TNT KaTropa jerseys again, and the rest of the Texters look to get going in chase of a Top Two berth as they square off with skidding Magnolia Pambansang Manok in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the MOA Arena Wednesday.
Before taking a 12-day break to give way to Rosario and Pogoy's participation with Team Phl in the 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup, the Texters were on a searing run and among the league leaders at 6-1.
The Texters hope to keep the fire of their romp as they tangle with the Hotshots in their 7 p.m. face-off.
While TNT has won its last three matches, Magnolia, on the other hand, has dropped its last three and is thus now on a shaky spot, tied with GlobalPort at seventh spot with their identical 3-4 win-loss slates.
They are barely up on Phoenix Fuel (3-5) and Barangay Ginebra (2-5) as the Hotshots have gone without a win since the departure of Vernon Macklin.
Sponsored content:
They hope to do better in their second outing with second import sub Justin Jackson.
In Jackson's debut Sunday, the Hotshots went down to a 99-103 loss to the Alaska Milk Aces, suffering tremendous beating on Vic Manuel's career-best 35-point output.
The continued absence of the injury-hit Ian Sangalang didn't help their cause.
Meanwhile, the Texters are admirable with the consistency they've been showing thus far.
They're two-of-two with returning import Josh Smith who averaged 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in their games against Columbian Dyip and NLEX.
Sponsored content:
Smith, Tony Semerad and Terrence Romeo led six TNT KaTropa players scoring in double figures as the Texters warded off the NLEX Road Warriors, 117-106, for an outright playoff entry.
The Texters, however, are determined to sustain their charge in pursuit of a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
They're to go through a tough test in their closing games in the elims where they're up against Magnolia, San Miguel Beer, Meralco and Rain or Shine.(SB)
