Bong Ravena had two stars out of commission. —PHOTO COURTESY OF PBA IMAGES
TNT spent a total of 72 days inside the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) bubble—nearly a month longer than half of the league’s teams—only to suffer the bitterest possible finish.
The Tropang Giga, labeled as the heavy favorites to win the all-Filipino crown after San Miguel Beer’s unceremonious exit during the quarterfinals, bowed to another favorite in crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra in the championship series last Wednesday after just five games in the best-of-seven title series pundits expected to go the full route.
It was an anticlimactic showing for the MVP group’s flagship franchise, which was highly touted for its deep bench anchored on stars worthy of franchise players elsewhere.
TNT went 7-4 in the elimination round and made quick work of Alaska in the quarterfinals. The Tropang Giga took care of Phoenix during the Final Four, but it required so much effort that it told on them when they were playing for the highest stakes.
Ray Parks Jr., who pretty much willed the Tropang Giga past the Fuel Masters in five games, finished Game 1 with a literal limp and would never come back the rest of the series.
As if losing their foremost weapon wasn’t enough of a gut punch, TNT also lost Jayson Castro to knee problems in Game 4, just as the Tropang Giga were shooting for the series equalizer.
Coach Bong Ravena had little to say about his team’s botched campaign. If anything, his choice of words was telling of his assessment.
“Hopefully we can give ourselves a chance next conference and stay healthy,” he said in an interview published on the PBA website.
TNT’s physical therapist, Dex Aseron, said Parks Jr. and Castro will need varying approaches to get back to optimal shape.
“Ray will just [need] to rest his calf and do strengthening (workouts),” he told the Inquirer on Sunday. “Jayson, [meanwhile] will have a checkup next week and probably have his bone spurs removed by the first week of January.”
“There’s a lot that goes into winning a championship, and one of them is health,” winning coach Tim Cone had said.
And that couldn’t have been truer as far as TNT is concerned.
“We were fortunate that we kept our health, and we were fortunate that (TNT) did not keep [theirs]. But that’s basketball, that’s the way it goes. I’ve been on the other side of that.” INQ