This statistic is becoming a growing concern for Chot Reyes
At A Glance
- Chot Reyes and TNT may have been on a roll the past week with its three-game winning streak that put them on a three-way deadlock at the third spot of the standings with Barangay Ginebra and Meralco.
Chot Reyes and TNT may have been on a roll the past week with its three-game winning streak that put them on a three-way deadlock at the third spot of the standings with Barangay Ginebra and Meralco.
But as good as the run so far, there’s an emerging issue that is growing to be a concern for the veteran head coach.
While having a 7-foot-3 unicorn in import Bol Bol is a great thing for the Tropang 5G, having a dominant player like him somehow also brings some few negative impacts to the team.
And one of TNT’s overreliance on Bol, especially on the offensive end.
“That's the problem when you have a super import. An import who can score at will, the locals have a tendency to watch him. That's not good for us,” admitted Reyes as Bol, for the second straight game, ended up scoring more than half of the team’s total points.
Bol, so far, is head and shoulders above everyone averaging 39.0 ppg through seven outings.
In the 97-92 win over the Titan Ultra, Bol exploded for 50 points while the rest of the team only had 47. In the 99-94 win over Blackwater, the former NBA player showed the way with 48 while his supporting cast only accounted for 51.
On a night where the import is scoring this big, one would expect a dominant ball game all throughout. But that was not the case even with Bol’s performance.
On both games TNT was trailing for the most part and barely survived the teams currently at the bottom half of the standings
“It was three very tough wins,” said Reyes, also counting 101-89 win over Terrafirma where Bol also exploded for 35 points.
“We still have to play Magnolia, Converge, and Ginebra. We really have to find a way to raise our game, to elevate our level. Otherwise, we're going to have a very difficult time against those three teams, including Phoenix,” he added.
Outside Bol, Calvin Oftana was the only other double-digit scorer with an average of 12.7 ppg. But even these were too far from the usual numbers for the veteran wingman.
“We keep trying to find that balance, but like I said, for this game without Jordan Heading, and Calvin, he had to step up,” Reyes said of Bol.
“But that should not be the way our game goes. We should be able to get better scoring from a lot more people,” he stressed.