ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider TNT launches Grand Slam bid vs NLEX

TNT launches Grand Slam bid vs NLEX

Published Apr 22, 2025 05:33 am

At A Glance

  • The protagonists of the Commissioner's Cup Finals plunge back into action with TNT launching its Grand Slam bid against NLEX while Ginebra takes on the skidding Terrafirma in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup on Wednesday, April 23 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The protagonists of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals plunge back into action with TNT launching its Grand Slam bid against NLEX while Ginebra takes on the skidding Terrafirma in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup on Wednesday, April 23 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

PBA Images6 - 2025-04-22T125138.004.jpg

With brand new threads and moniker, the Tropang 5G are sporting a new look but all the same fire and intensity when they face up against the Road Warriors in the first offering at 5 p.m. before the Kings tangle against the Dyip in the second game at 7:30 p.m.

Although certainly one of the favorites in the All-Filipino after it won the first two tournaments of the season, TNT is expected to make a huge adjustment in the absence of import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

And Road Warriors head coach Jong Uichico feels that if there's a perfect time to catch the Tropang Giga off-guard, it is when the team is still on its adjustment period.

He, however, knows it is easier said than done.

"When a team is a well-oiled machine, alam na nila yung ginagawa nila. So they don't need a lot of practice time kasi nandiyan na yan," said Uichico.

"Nandiyan na yan. Alam nila magkakakilala na sila. All they have to do is practice a little bit, get their rhythm back, be in shape, and then they can play."

Without the energetic import, TNT is expected to lean on stars RR Pogoy, Calvin Oftana and Commissioner's Cup Finals MVP Rey Nambatac especially since veteran playmaker Jayson Castro is doubtful to return any time soon due to a knee injury.

There's also hope for Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser to finally be back in action this conference to bolster the TNT frontlines that should be banking on Kelly Williams and Poy Erram.

The Road Warriors, on the other hand, will have Robert Bolick taking the lead along with Kevin Alas and last game's hero Xyrus Torres, who fired 28 points in the teams breakthrough 109-95 win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

Meanwhile in the second game, the Kings aim for a winning start to the conference especially after their finals heartbreak where they squandered a 3-2 series lead.

Everything should go well for Ginebra, however, especially facing up against Terrafirma, which aside from its opening day win over Phoenix, has gone downward anew in terms of its performance after absorbing two lopsided defeats.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.