TNT head coach Jojo Lastimosa admitted being pissed at Poy Erram for allowing emotions to get the best of him, which undeniably made matters worse that led to the team’s demise in Game 1 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
Already without Kelly Williams and Justin Chua, the Tropang Giga saw their center foul out still with 9:51 to go in the fourth quarter after committing back-to-back fouls against Ginebra counterpart Christian Standhardinger.
It became an opportunity that the Kings took advantage of, as they took control of the game for good en route to the 102-90 win — and the early series lead.
That, of course, left TNT a frustrated bunch particularly with Erram, who committed those fouls mere seconds apart from one another.
“We talked about it as a staff and I already talked about it and I was actually pissed at him,” said the straightforward bench tactician moments after emerging from the team’s dugout at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Sunday night.
“And his teammates were actually getting on him because he’s beginning to be a distraction when he complains too much,” the cage legend furthered. “And we need Poy. We need him, we need his head to be in the game.
“Now that Justin is out and Kelly is out, so who do we have?”
Lastimosa, though, isn’t pinning the blame solely on Erram, pointing out that his wards’ poor shooting also played a factor in the Finals opener loss.
A team that usually shoots 47.4-percent from the floor, TNT only made 38-percent in the loss, including a 9-of-25 clip from beyond the arc.
“We couldn’t make shots. We just couldn’t make shots,” he said. “You make a name in the Finals because everybody plays defense in the Finals. But if you don’t make shots in the Finals, there’s just no way you can win a series.”
Lastimosa is definitely hoping to see his Tropa get their touch back come Game 2, something they’d badly need as a way to address the possible absence of Chua after going down with a right knee injury minutes into Sunday’s affair.
And he’s keeping his fingers crossed, too, that Erram gets better in keeping his emotions in check as they try to equalize the best-of-7 series on Wednesday.
“I’m not going to speculate but it looks like he won’t play in Game 2. But Poy’s got to do a better job of controlling his emotions,” he said.
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The 2023 PBA Governors Cup Finals is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
