Jolas laments poor shooting in TNT's Game 1 loss
Published Apr 10, 2023 07:15 am
A soldier getting into a war without its most effective weapon.
That was exactly the picture that depicted TNT’s 102-90 Game 1 loss to Ginebra as the team that leads the league in offense simply didn’t have it all throughout the game.
*TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa hopes to address his team's shooting woes come Game 2. (PBA Images)*
Known to be a very potent three-point shooting team, TNT just went into a brick fest and only shot 9-of-35 from beyond the arc, basically dashing all the hopes for the Tropang Giga to mount a comeback according to head coach Jojo Lastimosa. “We just couldn’t make shots. We only had nine turnovers in the game. Our team relied so much on offense, of course. The defense is going to be there in the Finals but if you can’t make shots in the finals you got no chance and they hit theirs,” Lastimosa lamented. A large part of that cold-shooting night for TNT fell on the shoulders of RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro who combined for a meager 10 points on a 4-of-19 clip from the field. Despite the shooting woes, it was still an encouraging sign for Lastimosa that they still managed to keep themselves within striking distance and even cut the lead down to just two, 54-52, at some point in the third frame behind the trio of Mikey Williams, Calvin Oftana and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. “We have multiple opportunities to get back into the game and as badly as we played, Ginebra didn’t really pull away to as much as 20-plus points, they are just in 15, 12 so I think that was the positive part for us, that as badly as we played, we are still in the game,” explained Lastimosa. Although confident that his wards can rediscover their touches, Lastimosa hopes both Castro and Pogoy can show up in Game 2 to avoid falling into a 0-2 series deficit. "Roger, I'm confident he'll figure it out. Even Jayson, Jayson played 31 minutes, and we missed Jayson tonight. And those guys, they've been there, and they know what needs to be done. And I'm hoping that we can pick it up offensively in the next game so it can be a better game for us,” said Lastimosa.
*TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa hopes to address his team's shooting woes come Game 2. (PBA Images)*
Known to be a very potent three-point shooting team, TNT just went into a brick fest and only shot 9-of-35 from beyond the arc, basically dashing all the hopes for the Tropang Giga to mount a comeback according to head coach Jojo Lastimosa. “We just couldn’t make shots. We only had nine turnovers in the game. Our team relied so much on offense, of course. The defense is going to be there in the Finals but if you can’t make shots in the finals you got no chance and they hit theirs,” Lastimosa lamented. A large part of that cold-shooting night for TNT fell on the shoulders of RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro who combined for a meager 10 points on a 4-of-19 clip from the field. Despite the shooting woes, it was still an encouraging sign for Lastimosa that they still managed to keep themselves within striking distance and even cut the lead down to just two, 54-52, at some point in the third frame behind the trio of Mikey Williams, Calvin Oftana and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. “We have multiple opportunities to get back into the game and as badly as we played, Ginebra didn’t really pull away to as much as 20-plus points, they are just in 15, 12 so I think that was the positive part for us, that as badly as we played, we are still in the game,” explained Lastimosa. Although confident that his wards can rediscover their touches, Lastimosa hopes both Castro and Pogoy can show up in Game 2 to avoid falling into a 0-2 series deficit. "Roger, I'm confident he'll figure it out. Even Jayson, Jayson played 31 minutes, and we missed Jayson tonight. And those guys, they've been there, and they know what needs to be done. And I'm hoping that we can pick it up offensively in the next game so it can be a better game for us,” said Lastimosa.