TNT tries to pick up pieces against Korean No. 1

Jalen Hudson of TNT | EASL Pool Photo

UTSUNOMIYA, JAPAN—For being the best team thus far in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup back home, TNT certainly didn’t perform even close to expectations.

And TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa knows it.

“This is a disappointment for me and the team,” Lastimosa said after a 99-66 roughhousing taking at the hands of Utsunomiya Brex at the start of their East Asia Super League (EASL) Champions Week campaign on Wednesday at Nikkei Arena here. “I just thought that we should’ve played a little better to make it a little bit more entertaining.

“I’m not making excuses, but it showed that they’re (Brex) very, very well-coached as well.”

And on Friday at 5 p.m. (Manila time), the Tropang Giga face South Korea’s top team, the SK Knights, needing to blow them off the floor in order to have a chance at winning out in a tiebreak that can occur.

“My only concern coming into [Friday’s] game is how well we can adjust to the calls and how the game is played [here],” he said. “If we could adjust [right away], and if we can be aggressive defensively, I think we should be OK.”

Lastimosa rued the contact being allowed in this tournament compared to the PBA’s way of calling games.

“The calls in the [PBA] are so much different here, so we have to get used to playing a little more physical, which is a lot more contact allowed over here,” he said.

Jalen Hudson was the lone bright spot for TNT against the B.League champion Brex, finishing with 28 points that went with seven rebounds and two steals.

Lastimosa didn’t mention how subpar Daniel Ochefu, TNT’s second import, played. He finished with just nine points and struggled against the towering front line of Utsunomiya made up of Jerrett Grant and Josh Scott.