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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Chot plays down TNT's shot at becoming the first eighth seed to win a title

Chot plays down TNT's shot at becoming the first eighth seed to win a title

Published Jun 1, 2026 10:03 pm

At A Glance

  • TNT has the rare shot at history in the upcoming PBA Season 50 Commissioner's Cup Finals as it can become the very first No. 8 team to win a title.


TNT has the rare shot at history in the upcoming PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup Finals as it can become the very first No. 8 team to win a title.

The Tropang 5G had to go through a wringer after a roller-coaster elimination that saw them finish at the eighth spot with an even 6-6 record. TNT won twice against top seed NLEX before needing six games to dispatch Meralco in the semifinals.

As great as the feats so far for TNT, Tropang 5G head coach Chot Reyes was not as amused by the thought, stressing that the focus for his team is to defend the crown regardless of its historical implications.

“It’s a nice thing to hear but in the end it doesn’t really matter much for us. What matters is really how we prepare, how we play against a very high quality team. That's all we're thinking about,” said Reyes during the Final press conference presented by ArenaPlus on Monday, June 1, at the Novotel Manila.

“All of the other things, for me, for us, it's just noise,” he added

Reyes has steered TNT to a fifth straight Finals appearance, and while they are used to struggling in the early part of the conference and then recovering in time for the playoffs, their eighth seed placing at the elimination was the lowest they have dropped through that stretch.

Ginebra head coach Tim Cone wasn’t buying the narrative either, noting that they never looked at TNT as the eighth seed.

“I don’t understand the idea of talking about TNT in terms of being an 8th seed. They're not an 8th seed quality team,” Cone commented.

“It's really hard to get loaded up right away to start the conference. I think that just made them stronger. They had their early struggles just trying to find the right mix. Now they're in their stride and that makes them extremely dangerous because they have learned a lot and they grew from what they did before,” he explained.

Related Tags

PBA Finals PBA Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings TNT Tropang 5G Chot Reyes Tim Cone
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