Chot Reyes is out of TNT’s most important game of the PBA Philippine Cup.
The Tropang Giga won’t have their head coach for the winner-take-all Game Seven of the Finals against San Miguel Beer as he tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19), multiple sources have told Tiebreaker Times.
Top deputy Josh Reyes will be the one calling the shots in lieu of his father.
This is now the third time in the series that the reigning champions are without their chief mentor. He was out in Games Two and Three as he had to coach Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers’ fourth window.
TNT lost both of those matches without Reyes. The team only rebounded come Game Four with their coach back in the fold, and then followed it up with another win the next game to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven affair.
However, the Tropang Giga failed to close it out in six, and the climb will surely be much tougher in the rubber match as the Beermen are in high spirits following their masterful showing last Friday.
If there’s any consolation to Reyes’ absence, though, is the return of Jayson Castro. One of the sources said that their main man is good to go after sitting out Game Six due to a sprained ankle.
Game Seven tips off at 6 p.m. at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
