TNT coach Chot Reyes in the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES
ANTIPOLO CITY—For Chot Reyes, adjusting to his return to the sidelines as coach of TNT was nothing out of the ordinary.
“I was never away,” Reyes said after the Tropang Giga’s 108-107 victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to start off the PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday at Ynares Center here.
“I’ve always been with the team, whether it’s practice or games. It wasn’t like I was ever away, so there was no big adjustment,” he added.
SCHEDULE: 2024 PBA Philippine Cup
Reyes resumed his old role with TNT after spending the previous two conferences as senior consultant due to his previous duties handling Gilas Pilipinas in the Fiba World Cup.
Team manager Jojo Lastimosa took the role in lieu of Reyes, which resulted in the Tropang Giga winning last year’s Governors’ Cup before suffering a quarterfinal exit in this season’s Commissioner’s Cup.
“It’s just getting back to the grind of the PBA cadence of practices and games,” Reyes said. “That cadence is different from the Gilas cadence. Other than that, there was no big adjustment.”
READ: PBA: Calvin Oftana comes alive for TNT after wake-up call from coach Chot
TNT got off the All-Filipino tournament on a winning note, but not before enduring a 10-point deficit in the third quarter as Rain or Shine got it going behind rookie Adrian Nocum and big man Santi Santillan.
But the Tropang Giga managed to come back behind reserve rookie Kim Aurin, Jayson Castro, plus the heroics of Calvin Oftana, who managed to hit the big shots down the stretch.
Oftana, heeding to Reyes’ demand to take over on offense, scored five in a row during a stretch that allowed TNT to take the lead for good in the last two minutes.
“To be honest, I don’t know how we won that game,” he said. “We’re lucky that Rain or Shine missed their free throws. We gave up too many free throws and if Rain or Shine made half of the free throws they’ve missed, we would have lost this ballgame.”
Rain or Shine made just 24 of 42 shots from the 15-foot line.
“We dodged a bullet in this ballgame,” said Reyes.