ANG TNT ang top seeded team sa PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs, subalit walang duda na sila ang underdog sa darating nilang Finals showdown sa reigning champion Barangay Ginebra.
Handa si Tropang Giga coach Jojo Lastimosa sa pagiging underdog ng kanyang koponan papasok sa best-of-seven series na magsisimula sa Abril 9 sa Araneta Coliseum.
Kahit ang pagdispatsa ng TNT sa Ginebra, 114-105, sa nag-iisa nilang engkuwentro sa eliminations ay hindi makapagpapabago sa isip ni Lastimosa, na mapapalaban sa kanyang dating coach na si Tim Cone sa kanyang unang finals foray bilang head mentor.
“I have nothing to lose. Our team has nothing to lose,” pahayag ng 59-year-old cage great makaraang makopo ng Tropang Giga ang huling finals berth sa 107-92 panalo sa Meralco upang manalo sa semis series, 3-1.
“Everybody is rallying for them (Kings), and everybody is expecting Ginebra to win this championship, anyway. And we’re only here to probably spoil the party, and hopefully we could come up with a good game like what we did in this series. We got Rondae on my side and I’m OK with it.”
Tinapos ng Kings ang eliminations bilang no. 3 seeded team, subalit hindi pa natatalo sa playoffs sa isang run na kinabilangan ng three-game sweep sa second seed San Miguel sa semifinals. At ang Kings ay nasa winning run sa kabila ng pagkawala nina main players Japeth Aguilar at LA Tenorio.
Target din ng Ginebra ang ikalawang sunod na championship makaraang pagharian ang nakalipas na Commissioner’s Cup kontra guest team Bay Area Dragons.
Handa naman si Lastimosa at ang Tropang Giga na bigyan ang defending champions ng competitive series.
“Going into this series, I like my chances. Our players are playing well, and we’ve been winning games with our shares in scoring. And right now we’re defending really well. So we really need to play offense and defense in this championship series. I think the guys are going to be ready,” anang TNT coach.
CLYDE MARIANO
