Since June 15, TNT Katropa’s hulking reinforcement Joshua Smith has been hobbling. Despite his right foot injury, he continues to play on.
But on Friday night, with the series becoming more physical compared to Game One, the Katropa basically shut down.
“We’re the more aggressive team in the first game and we won. They [San Miguel] were the more aggressive team in this game,” rued the 6-foot-10, 330-pound Smith after TNT’s 88-102 Game Two loss.
“They played harder and they deserved to win.”
Compared to Game One where TNT went toe-to-toe with San Miguel en route to a 104-102 win, the Katropa lost the battle of the boards (42-60) and were forced to shoot jumpers instead of attacking San Miguel’s defense. Moreover, San Miguel’s bench were able to rally San Miguel back from a historic 0-17 deficit, led by Arwind Santos’ 16 points, while TNT’s bench could not sustain the momentum of their starters.
And Smith, who has played in 11 games with TNT, found a disturbing trend in their losses.
“It’s funny because we win close games and the games we lose, we get blown out,” the 25-year-old thought.
Looking back, in the eight games they have won with Smith on hand, TNT have won by an average of 8.0 points per game — including three games that had a margin of five points or less. In their three losses, however, the Katropa lost by a wide gap of 10.33 points per game.
According to Smith, who was limited to just 11 points and six rebounds, it’s an indication that he and his team give up when the odds are stacked against them.
“We can’t control how the refs ref the game. Like I said, we all feel different about the refs, we can’t control what they do, and I told the guys that we got to go out here like they’re not there.
“We got to control the game. They make the calls, whether right or wrong, so we got to keep playing,” said the former NBA D-Leaguer.
For them to retake the series lead, the native of Seattle, Washington believes that they need to storm out of the gate once more come Game Three.
“If that’s an indication right there, we want to come back and be ready for Game three,” he said.
