After bucking the odds vs Magnolia, TNT ready to make most out of second chance in semis

MANILA, Philippines — On to the next.

Despite punching their ticket to the semifinals, the happiness of escaping a twice-to-win quarterfinal disadvantage will be short-lived, TNT Tropang 5G head coach Chot Reyes acknowledged.

Reyes and his depleted Tropang 5G escaped the Magnolia Hotshots, 80-79, in the sudden-death quarterfinal matchup Saturday.

The Grand Slam-seeking TNT squad, which has a number of injuries in the team, had to bank on the game-winning free throws by Kelly Williams and a game-sealing steal by Calvin Oftana to complete the escape act and overcome a twice-to-win disadvantage.

After the game, Reyes said that there is “some relief” that they barged into the next round of the PBA Philippine Cup.

“There's some relief that we were able to get to the Final Four. But any kind of happiness or satisfaction we know is going to be short-lived,” he told reporters.

“But at least, gaya sabi ni Roger [Pogoy], at least we give ourselves a chance. When we have a chance, that's all we ask sa buhay. All we ask is a chance. We're given this chance. We go back to the drawing board,” he added.

TNT will be facing off against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, who likewise overcame the same disadvantage against the NLEX Road Warriors.

Pogoy, for his part, said that Reyes’ reminder to them that “life is unfair” lit a fire under them.

“Para sa akin, tumatatak talaga palagi yung sinasabi ni Coach. Sa buhay, parang unfair palagi yung buhay. Pero sabi nga palagi ni Coach, maraming injured sa atin, daming nangyayari. Pero laban pa rin tayo,” the sharpshooter said.

“Basta bigyan lang natin yung chance yung team natin na manalo. Basta laban lang,” he added.

Aside from star Jayson Castro, the team is also without the similarly injured Rey Nambatac, Jielo Razon and Brian Heruela.

“Kaya yung mga teammates ko, sinasabihan ko sila palagi, wag kayong mawalan ng pag-asa. Laban lang hanggang di pa tapos yung laban. So yun yung palaging sinasabi ko, yun ang palaging mindset namin.”

The two teams will start their best-of-seven semifinal series on Wednesday, 5 p.m., at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.