ISANG problema ang nalampasan ng Talk ‘N Text Tropang Giga matapos nilang opisyal na patalsikin sa quarterfinals at tanggalan ng korona ang nagtatanggol na Philippine Cup champ Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, 84-71, noong Miyerkoles ng gabi sa Don Honorio Ventura University Gym sa Bacolor, Pampanga.
Nakamit ng top seed na Katropa ang unang upuan sa semifinal round ng semi-bubble conference. Ngunit ayon kay comebacking coach Chot Reyes, mas malaking suliranin ang haharapin nila sa susunod na round.
“We just finished with one problem and now it’s on to the next problem,” ani coach Chot sa post-game press conference. Sunod kasing makakatapat ng Katropa ang mananalo sa pagitan ng limang magkakasunod na beses nagkampeong San Miguel Beermen at NorthPort Batang Pier.
Kapwa may higanteng sentro ang dalawang teams. Ang SMB ay may 6-foot-9 June Mar Fajardo, habang ang NorthPort ay may lampas seven-footer na Greg Slaughter.
Sinusulat ito ay naglalaro pa ang Beermen at Batang Pier sa Game 2 ng kanilang best-of-three series, bagama’t angat ng isang panalo ang tropa ni coach Leo Austria. Ang magwawagi ang makakalaban ng Katropa sa best-of-seven series ng Round of Four.
Matatandaang ginapi ng Gin Kings ni coach Tim Cone ang KaTropa sa playoffs noong 2020 All-Filipino bubble sa Angeles University Foundation, Angeles City. Kumpleto ang lineup ng Ginebra noon, hindi tulad ngayon na wala ang mga inaasahang sina Japeth Aguilar at Scottie Thompson.
Ngunit kahit sino sa Beermen at Batang Pier ang makakalaban ng TNT, batid ni Reyes na kailangan ng mga Katropa na higitan ang kanilang ginawa nang talunin nila si Christian Hardinger at Kings sa unang round ng playoffs.
“It’s either June Mar or Greg. So that’s the problem that we are going to try to solve right now in this break,” pahayag ni Reyes.
Ang Beermen ni coach Leo ang responsable sa kaisa-isang talo ng Katropa sa elimination round, 83-67, bagama’t wagi sila sa Batang Pier, 102-92. At hindi nakalaro si Slaughter noon.
“We just beat the defending champion, but San Miguel is like what, the five-time champion before Ginebra won it last year,” esplika ni Reyes.
“San Miguel kicked our butts in the elimination round. It wasn’t even close. They beat us, and they beat us badly.”
Si Troy Rosario, isa sa ilang bigs ng Tropang Giga na inaasahang ihaharap kay Fajardo o Slaughter, ang nagsabi na mismong ‘di niya kakayaning mag-isa na pigilan alinman sa dalawang nabanggit na ‘bigs’.
“We need defense, because I can’t handle June Mar Fajardo. Because of his size and experience, we need a whole team effort to stand a chance against them,” ani Rosario.
“Bagong team, bagong conference, at masaya kami tinalo namin yung team na tumalo sa amin last time,” dagdag niya.
“Before the game, I told the boys about ’urgency and how do we want to win it today. ‘Pag binigyan namin sila ng chance, hihirap ang sitwasyon dahil 50/50 na,” sambit naman ni Reyes, na hindi nakalimutang batiin si coach Tim.
“I would like to congratulate coach Tim Cone and his coaching staff. Facing the manpower shortages that they have, they came out with a good game plan,” wika ni Reyes.
“They made it very, very difficult. The start was extremely difficult for us. But in the end, we kind of talked about it and we’ve been off for 10 days and so we expected that we weren’t as sharp to start the ball game,” dugtong niya.
Ayon kay PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon: “This is the second consecutive year where the defending Philippine Cup champs got ousted in the first round. Last year, five-time defending champions San Miguel were ousted by Meralco in the quarterfinals, 2-0.”
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