Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
ANTIPOLO — Turning 26 on Saturday, Troy Rosario continued his birthday celebration on Sunday as he gave TNT a treat with his fiery shooting to propel the KaTropa over over Meralco at Ynares Center here.
“It feels like my birthday got extended,” he said as the KaTropa (3-2) claimed solo fourth place in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup following a 99-81 rout.
Rosario sparked the early breakaway as he fired 12 of his 22 points in the opening frame. He shot 6-of-10 from three while also grabbing 10 rebounds to lead TNT to back-to-back wins.
But as much as coach Nash Racela was happy with the way the 6-foot-7 performed, he’s wishing that the former National University Bulldog will be able to do similar performances consistently.
“It won’t be his birthday every day. It’s nice that he shot well while celebrating his birthday, but he also needs to shoot well during the other days. That’s how you become consistent,” Racela said.
Rosario is well aware of his mentor’s demands as he seeks to sustain his impressive outing and finally end the KaTropa’s up-and-down ride this conference.
“Coming off a win last week, we really wanted to continue getting wins early because we’ll eventually face the stronger teams. We have the playoffs as our goal and we want to use this victories as our leverage to make it to the top four and get the twice-to-beat advantage,” Rosario said.
That’s the reason for Rosario’s tireless effort in TNT’s practices, something that didn’t go unnoticed.
“I think it’s just a product of Troy’s hard work. He takes a lot of shots before practice, and then even after practice, he’s left in the gym to take more shots. So I’m not really surprised with the way he shot today,” Racela said.
The second overall pick in the 2015 PBA Draft, however, noted that the KaTropa can’t be satisfied with this performance as they aim to shoot better from downtown.
“Coming into this game, we ranked last when it comes to three-point field goals. Our coaches have been telling us that we need to shoot smarter, so we should be more responsible with our possessions and it showed today,” said Rosario after TNT shot a conference-best 18 threes in the win.
The road, however, is about to get tougher for the KaTropa as they take on streaking Magnolia on Saturday.