'We’re a vastly different team,' Reyes tells Tropang 5G amid first win

Philstar.com

May 5, 2025 | 12:46pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Talk’ N Text Tropang 5G snapped their three-game losing streak in the PBA Philippine Cup with a breakthrough win over the San Miguel Beermen Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

TNT could not have gotten off to a more horrifying start in their Grand-Slam bid as they surrendered double-digit losses to NLEX, Converge and Phoenix. Head coach Chot Reyes believes the Tropang 5G failed to realize that they were a brand new team — which is ironically true with their moniker change and the new jerseys.

“We had some real brutal reflections. Before the game, I told the players maybe we had it all wrong. Maybe we were trying to find the old TNT game, we were talking about why we can't do this, why we can't do that in our first three games. Until we realized we can't go back to the old TNT game because this is a vastly different team without Jason and without Rondae,” Reyes stated after their 89-84 victory over the Beermen.

With the danger of missing the playoffs looming, Reyes sent a clear message to his troops to forget about the past and instead focus on the current task at hand.

“So I told the players before the game, let's play our game with the players in this room, with who we have. [...] I just told the players, let's write our own story. Let’s not write a story from the past,” Reyes added.

Fortunately for the former national team coach, his players responded to capture a timely victory against the Beermen.

One of those players was Calvin Oftana, who spearheaded TNT with a double-double performance after tallying 24 points and 20 rebounds. The 6-foot-5 forward’s career-high in rebounding was a product of his extra effort on the glass, which TNT desperately needed facing one of the top rebounding ball clubs in the league.

“Sinabi ni coach yesterday sa huddle namin na just show up. [..] Wala na si Rondae, wala na yun shot-blocker namin at tsaka magrerebound pa sa amin,” discussed Oftana who was motivated to fill the void left by the absence of Hollis-Jefferson.

Although defeating San Miguel is a step in the right direction, Reyes said only time will tell if the Tropang 5G can sustain their rejuvenated play and turn the season around.

“Our effort in the next few games is going to tell if we started to turn that corner. Like I said, this is just the first step. We are happy, but we cannot be content with this,” Reyes expressed.

TNT will return to action against the Terrafirma Dyip on May 9, Friday, 5 p.m. at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. — Ravi Tan, intern