TNT Tropang Giga coach Chot Reyes during a huddle in a PBA Philippine Cup game. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—TNT coach Chot Reyes remained wary of the PBA Philippine Cup playoff race even after defeating Phoenix at Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Wednesday.
Despite the close 108-101 win over the Fuel Masters, Tropang Giga are still in the middle of the pack where no other team has a clear view of a playoff spot except unbeaten San Miguel.
“Dikit-dikit lahat (Everyone’s neck-and-neck). Nobody has a lock on anything right now, I think only San Miguel. Other than that, everyone else’s one loss means a lot in the scheme of things,” said Reyes.
READ: PBA: TNT rallies from 20 down to beat Phoenix in crucial win
After the TNT win on Wednesday, the Tropang Giga improved to 5-4 in the standings to momentarily sit at the fifth seed. But like how Reyes put it, one loss can alter the complexion of the playoff race.
One defeat from the TNT side will slide Reyes’ wards to 5-5 and create a logjam for the sixth seed with Terrafirma and Rain or Shine, which hold identical records with Tropang Giga.
The Beermen are the only lock for the quarters as of writing with an unscathed 7-0 record.
READ: PBA: TNT ends slide but Chot Reyes wants to ‘fix ourselves first’
Kelly Williams, who dropped a stellar double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds, also acknowledged how TNT, once portrayed as one of the league’s juggernauts, is now uncertain about making the quarterfinals.
All that could be traced to how young the Tropang Giga squad is with the addition of new blood and retirements of old squad remnants.
“In past teams and groups, we’ve had difficult conferences as well. Now, we have a lot of young and skilled guys who are learning the system and culture of how we manage each other,” said Williams.
“There’s a lot of learning and adjustments. Coach is big on being able to pivot and adjust at different times. We’re all learning and we have the capability to be where we want to be but it’s just going to take some time… We’ll need to throw our biggest punches in these last few games and hopefully get to the playoffs,” the veteran big added.
Tropang Giga will have two games left in the elimination round but wins and losses on those bouts still wouldn’t determine where they’d stand with a tight race at hand.
TNT looks to up its momentum on Wednesday at Philsports Arena when they face Converge, which just notched its first win on Sunday at Meralco’s expense.