San Miguel's Chris Ross is in awe as TNT played a record-tying 75 games in PBA Season 49, coming up just two wins short of a Grand Slam as a wounded roster limped to Game 6 of the Philippine Cup Finals.
San Miguel's Chris Ross had nothing but love for the TNT Tropang 5G after their grueling PBA Philippine Cup Finals series.
This after the Tropang 5G fought through a slew of injuries to key players and still came close to completing a PBA Grand Slam.
“I told coach Chot (Reyes), we talked briefly and he said he wished he could have given us a better fight,’” Ross said after the Beermen clinched the Philippine Cup title with a 107-06 win in Game 6.
“I said, ‘Coach, you did amazing with what you had and all the injuries.’ They pushed us as hard as they could.”
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Ross himself knew a thing or two about falling short on a PBA triple crown, following San Miguel's own failed bids in 2017 and 2019.
But unlike the Tropang 5G, his Beermen didn't even reach the Finals of their season-ending conference, ultimately bowing out in the quarterfinals each time.
For Ross, making it to Game 6 despite the lack of key personnel only makes TNT's campaign all the more impressive.
Throughout the Philippine Cup, TNT's injury list included Jayson Castro and Rey Nambatac, the team's Finals MVPs from their first two Season 49 titles. By the Finals, RR Pogoy, Kelly Williams, Jordan Heading, Calvin Oftana, Poy Erram, and Simon Enciso were all either playing hurt or were out altogether.
“When we we’re going for our Grand Slam both times we didn’t make the Finals," Ross said. "Like I said in the press conference, it takes more than talent and coaching, it takes a lot of luck."
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Perhaps the only thing that held the Tropang 5G back was wear and tear after playing a record-tying 75 games this season, with Glenn Khobuntin seeing action in all those for a PBA player record.
"That’s a lot of games. So it's not a coincidence that a lot of those guys are banged-up because they played a lot of basketball with not a lot of rest,” Ross said.
Ross only expects a better and stronger TNT when the new season rolls along with key players returning from injuries.
“When they get those guys back, it's going to be a dogfight but I think we'll be ready for it if we do end up matching up next conference,” he said.
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