At A Glance
- The Tropang 5G are not sweating over which team they will be facing in their fourth straight finals appearance, insisting that the focus for them is to prepare and be healthy as possible come the best-of-seven affair.
TNT refuses to think too much about the things beyond its control.
The Tropang 5G are not sweating over which team they will be facing in their fourth straight PBA Finals appearance, insisting that the focus for them is to prepare and be healthy as possible come the best-of-seven affair.
TNT is set to face either Barangay Ginebra or San Miguel — two teams they placed against during their three straight Finals last season.
The Kings and the Beermen are still playing the Game 6 of their own semifinals series with the former looking to extend it to a Game 7 while the latter seeks a second straight finals berth.
“We're going to go into this Finals thinking about us, focused on us. We're not going to be focused on anything else. Nothing that we can't control,” said TNT guard Jordan Heading.
“Obviously we don't know who we're playing, so there's not really any point in us giving any energy to that. It's just right now, getting a bit of rest, getting off of our feet and preparing for whoever it is. It's going to be a hell of a battle,” he added.
The Tropang 5G only needed five game to dispatch the Meralco Bolts and the additional rest should give the team enough time to rest and recover especially with key players like RR Pogoy and Rey Nambatac nursing injuries.
For head coach Chot Reyes, facing either of the two would have TNT making a big adjustment in the finals nonetheless.
“It's going to be a big shift in mindset because to be very honest, coming into this series, we were slightly favored to win. But going into the next series, whether it's San Miguel or Ginebra, we're going to be underdogs,” explained Reyes.
“We don't have their size, their depth, their talent and the crowd support. But like Jordan said, that's something we cannot control. Right now, our focus is going to be our rest and our recovery,” he added.