The TNT Tropang Giga evened their best-of-seven finals series for the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup crown with a convincing 100-87 Game 4 win over the San Miguel Beermen on Sunday night.
TNT welcomed back head coach Chot Reyes with a bounce-back win from a tough overtime loss just two nights ago.
Three thoughts on the game:
Taking care of the ball in record fashion
In Game 3, the Tropang Giga were sloppy, committing 24 turnovers that led to 17 points for SMB. Whatever the coaches drilled into the players about taking care of the ball, it worked to near-perfection.
TNT set an all-time PBA record for fewest turnovers in a game with just three, breaking the previous record of four held by three teams. TNT also forced the Beermen to commit 15 mistakes, leading to a massive 15-3 edge in points off turnovers.
"That's terrific," TNT chief assistant Sandy Arespacochaga said when told about it. "That's very hard to do, especially in a 48-minute game, especially against very good defenders. San Miguel, they've got very good defenders. Coach Chot isn't asking for perfection. He's asking if we can limit the useless turnovers, the lack of focus turnovers. We're very happy that the players responded."
Tropang Giga got it done on both ends
Best Player of the Conference June Mar Fajardo had another big game, falling just one rebound shy of becoming the first player in PBA history to record back-to-back 20-20 games. But the Beermen couldn't find the mark from beyond the arc; after averaging seven 3-pointers per game through Game 3, they shot just 18% in Game 4 (4-of-22).
SMB managed just nine points in the first quarter, its lowest first-quarter output this conference. They clawed their way back in the third quarter, even grabbing the lead 52-51, but they just couldn't stop Jayson Castro, who waltzed his way to 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 9-of-10 in two-point shots as he kept getting to the basket virtually untouched.
"We just needed to be aggressive," Castro said in Tagalog. "The past two games our execution was slow. At the same time our defense was passive. Coach Chot just said we needed to be aggressive on both defense and offense and this was the result."
Castro was happy with the way the team responded after that tough Game 3 loss, where they blew a chance to win it in regulation.
"It's hard to come back from 3-1. So we just told ourselves we needed to bounce back. This was a must-win for us. You're down against San Miguel 3-1, that's practically impossible."
"The good thing with our team is we've got a lot of veteran players," Arespacochaga noted. "They've been in this situation before. So they know the importance of Game 5. I think the players did a good job executing the game plan. A lot of players stepped up on offense."
Dual coaching duties for Chot Reyes
Reyes skipped the mandatory postgame news conference because he had to rush Gilas Pilipinas' practice. Gilas plays Saudi Arabia on Monday night in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. It's just the latest chapter in what has been a hectic week for Reyes, who has had to juggle coaching duties for both teams. He missed Games 2 and 3, and went to TNT practice on Saturday morning just a few hours after arriving from Beirut.
"First of all, it's a really difficult situation because all of a sudden it's the finals and Coach Chot wasn't here," said Arespacochaga, who took Reyes' place and spoke to the media. "Coach Chot really means a lot to our team. Big, big boost for us once he came back. Definitely big factor for us that Coach Chot is back coaching the team."
Castro, who is perhaps closer to Reyes than any other TNT player, said the coach's return was a "big factor."
"Just the motivation, and when we can't execute he gets mad at us."
Gilas' close loss to Lebanon this week has heaped even more criticism on Reyes.
"Of course, you also know he's been under fire," Arespacochaga said. "But we know Coach Chot's dedication. It's very hard coaching two teams and the sacrifice he's been giving to both Gilas and TNT. We're very happy that we won the game not just for this series but also for him."