Chot Reyes is already bracing for the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup Finals with Barangay Ginebra in his mind as TNT’s opponents.
Never afraid to speak his piece, the champion mentor is already anticipating his long-time pal Tim Cone and the Kings to advance to the best-of-7 title bout even though they have yet to finish off NorthPort in the semifinals.
“I don’t think it’s any secret: we’re going to play Ginebra in the Finals,” he offered after the Tropang Giga dispatched Rain or Shine by way of a 97-92 decision in Game 5 of the semis Friday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Reyes is no longer considering the Batang Pier, who got crushed by an average margin of 20.3 points during the first three games of their series with the Kings before saving their campaign with a 108-103 win in Game 4.
As of this posting, Game 5 has gotten underway and it would be interesting to see if Coach Bonnie Tan & Co. could send the series to a Game 6.
(C) PBA Images
It would be interesting, too, if NorthPort has enough left in the tank to push the semis to the distance and prove the former Gilas coach wrong.
Still, Reyes is already sure that it would be the crowd darlings that they’re going to face, which if it happens would be a rematch of the Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals that saw TNT come out on top for a successful title defense.
The 10-time titlist, however, sees the Tropa fighting a tougher battle ahead with how deep Ginebra has gone, especially with Troy Rosario around plus the return of key cogs Jamie Malonzo and Jeremiah Gray.
It’s the kind of depth they truly wish to have as TNT enters the Big Dance without Jayson Castro due to a patellar tendon tear on his right knee.
That’s why as good as the Elasto Painters series was in gearing them up for the Finals, Reyes feels worried but isn’t backing down to the challenge.
“We all know how strong and how deep that team is,” he said. “It’s a good preparation for us, but Ginebra is a very different team than Rain or Shine.
“We’re going to come into that series one man down, and they have three new players essentially from the last time we played them in the finals. That’s going to be a huge challenge,” the 61-year-old bench tactician added.
“Now, we’re going to go and take a look and figure out how to best prepare ourselves for the Finals,” Reyes continued.
