Right after winning its second straight championship of the season, TNT tried to eliminate the noise of grand slam being whispered throughout the PBA community.
The more you pay less attention, the better for the team to focus.
Now known as the Tropang 5G, coach Chot Reyes and his troops wasted no time and quickly shook off the championship hangover celebration. They devoted their time in a training camp at the Inspire Academy in Laguna that just wrapped up on Holy Thursday, enough for the squad to rest and recover.
The Tropang 5G have now recharged, but will continue to miss an important piece that had created a huge void in the backcourt of the back-to-back titlists.
Jayson Castro will still be out because of a knee injury, forcing the Tropang Giga to sign veteran guard Simon Enciso, who is no stranger to TNT’s culture.
Enciso played for the squad at the height of the pandemic, but will return to the franchise, hoping to continue his winning trend.
Over the past few years, he won championships with San Miguel, but will have another opportunity with TNT, which opens its Philippine Cup campaign against NLEX slated 5 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Like TNT, Barangay Ginebra also plays its first game of the Philippine Cup and thje league’s crowd darling will take on Terrafirma in the main game at 7:30 p.m.
Both TNT and Ginebra know the value of having a good start, especially since the league rewards the top four teams at the end of the elimination round a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinal round.
