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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Twin Towers vs The Kraken: TNT gears up for tough task against Fajardo, SMB arsenal

Twin Towers vs The Kraken: TNT gears up for tough task against Fajardo, SMB arsenal

Published Jul 12, 2025 07:24 pm

At A Glance

  • TNT's chances in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Finals lie on how well the Tropang 5G can contain June Mar Fajardo, with the twin towers of JP Erram and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser facing the daunting task.
TNT’s chances in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Finals lie on how well the Tropang 5G can contain June Mar Fajardo, with the twin towers of JP Erram and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser facing the daunting task.
Relishing the opportunity to finally contribute in the Finals after spending his team’s first two championship runs this season on the sidelines, Ganuelas-Rosser is ready to embrace the challenge -- though he admits that containing Fajardo is not a task one or two players can handle alone.
“You just have to make him work. You have to try and get him off the spots. But it's not just one player, not just me and Poy,” Ganuelas-Rosser said.
Fajardo has been the focal point of SMB’s high-octane offense after averaging 12.57 points, 15.14 rebounds, 3.43 assists and 1.14 blocks through seven games.
“It's going to take the whole team. We talk about team defense a lot and that's something that we rely on. So it's going to take a total effort and we'll just try our best,” Ganuelas-Rosser added.
Erram echoed the sentiment, acknowledging that SMB doesn't rely solely on Fajardo and has plenty of other weapons in its arsenal.
“It's not only June Mar that we need to watch out for. Their team is a very talented team. With June Mar, he attracts a lot. It takes a lot. We have to play team defense. If we play team defense, then we have a chance,” said Erram.
Tue enough, it wasn’t just Fajardo doing the damage for SMB, as CJ Perez, Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz also averaged double figures.
Perez led the supporting cast with 17.57 points per game, followed by Trollano with 12.86 points and Cruz with 11.86 points.
“For us, we’ll win the game as long as they don't score 100 points. We play defense. We play aggressive, we play smart,” said Erram.
“We want to make sure that it's close for us to have a chance to win the game. That's what we want, just to give us a chance. Make sure that it's a close game and give us a chance to win the game,” he added.
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