COACH Chot Reyes was not one to hide his contentment on the way his TNT side finished its August campaign in the PBA Governors' Cup.
"When I (first) saw the schedule, I said if we can come off the end of August with a 3-1 slate I'd be very happy because we saw that we have Meralco and Magnolia right away and we know how strong they are," related Reyes.
"And then we've had losing records against NorthPort and Converge the last conference. So I said they're all tough games for us. If we can finish at 3-1 then that would be a good start for us. So we're there now and our job now is take a look at September," added Reyes.
The Tropang Giga managed to hit their target following an 88-82 win over Magnolia last week and Reyes and his charges now look forward to their September assignments that start with Terrafirma Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
A second straight win would firm up TNT's hold on the Group A lead and further enhance its chances of advancing to the quarterfinals following the 10-game intragroup eliminations phase.
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From the looks of it, the Tropang Giga should have little trouble hitting that target as well.
Terrafirma has yet to win after four games and its problems are even more compounded by the fact top gunner Juami Tiongson is out for at least the conference due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the course of their 103-124 loss to Magnolia last Sunday.
"Di kasi tumitigil sa workout, shooting, ganoon," related Dyip coach Johnedel Cardel. "Kaya iyon, nagkaroon ng tear sa hamstring and malamang out for the rest of the conference na siya."
Tiongson's absence is but an additional headache for Terrafirma, which already has had to deal with Christian Standhardinger's lackluster plays early on and Antonio Hester's continued failure to deliver what was expected from an import.
But while Standhardinger has finally adjusted to his new team and cranked up his game to the tune of 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists against Magnolia, the same cannot be said of Hester, who scored just two points and benched for the entire second half against the Hotshots.
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"Hindi kami nagkukulang ng kakakausap kay Hester, that we need more from him at iyung kanyang aggressiveness kailangan madagdagan pa," offered Cardel. "Kasi the locals will follow his lead, eh, If he plays well, sigurado mahahawa mga locals."
Even without its manpower problems, Terrafirma is sure to be in for another rough night since the Rondae Hollis-Jefferson-led TNT crew are sure to go all out in their bid to open their September campaign on a very high note.(NC)
