Troy Rosario was nowhere to be found among the plethora of TNT Katropa’s offensive contributors back in their first game against San Miguel Beermen last Wednesday. In the Katropa’s 111-98 defeat into the hands of the Beermen, the six-foot-six stretch forward was held scoreless, taking just a single attempt from the field in the 15 minutes he suited up.
“Kahit ako nabigla ako na isang attempt lang ako nung Game 1 eh, nakita ko lang talaga sa stat sheet.
“Dun ko lang nalaman na isa lang tinira ko,” said Rosario.
But come Game 2 of the best-of-seven semifinal series Friday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, the second overall pick of the 2015 Rookie Draft has bounced back and regained his old self.
In TNT’s hard-earned 87-85 victory halted SMB’s months-long 11-game winning streak to knot the series at 1-all, Rosario was the high point man for the Katropa in the team’s balanced attack, scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go along with five boards.
And for Rosario, Friday night’s bounce-back game stems from his desire to redeem himself coming from that dismal Game One outing he had.
“Bumawi lang ako kasi alam kong mas marami dapat akong nagawa nung Game One,” Rosario claimed.
“[Kaya] coming [to] Game Two sabi ko titira na ako, baka sakaling pumasok na. Talagang kumpiyansa na ako sa tira ko.”
Asked if the TNT coaches gave him specific tasks on offense, Rosario stated otherwise, iterating that the coaches just advised him to play his game but within the team’s system.
“Wala namang specific instruction, basta within the system pa din yung mga tira,” stated the one-time UAAP titlist.
Furthermore, according to Rosario, he just took advantage of some mismatches that took place in the match, which helped him rake in stats offensively.
“May mga part ng game na may mga mismatch, gaya kanina first quarter na three big kami so pinopostehan ko yung three guy nila sa kabila,” reflected the Gilas Pilipinas member.
With TNT proving to everyone that they can take down the league’s best team with Friday night’s win, Rosario and the Katropa have now become true believers that they can square up with the mighty Beermen.
“Malaking confidence booster ‘to eh, kasi syempre ang hirap ma-down ng two games eh kaya kailangan talaga namin manalo.
“Coming Game 3 alam na namin na kaya pala namin talunin San Miguel — yung powerhouse na San Miguel,” believes the 25-year-old.
