Down 0-2 in the PBA Finals: An Uphill Climb for TNT

While the TNT Tropang Giga aren't out of the championship series just yet, being down 0-2 against a veteran team makes coming back in this series an uphill climb for TNT. An extremely difficult uphill climb especially with their leading scorer not healthy and not yet assured of whether or not he can play in Game Three.

Game Two of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Finals saw TNT put up a strong performance despite the absence of Ray Parks but in the end, it was the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings who came away with a 92-90 victory to move two wins away from winning the all-Filipino championship inside the PBA bubble in Clark. That is despite a 38-point outburst from Roger Pogoy and the fact that TNT once held a 15-point lead that Ginebra trimmed to a two-point deficit entering the fourth quarter. 

In the opener of the best-of-seven finals series, TNT had no clear answers for Japeth Aguilar who had 25 points and 16 rebounds. Parks had 20 points but was visibly hobbling especially in the second half. Jayson Castro only had 12 points on 30% field goal shooting. Troy Rosario finished with eight points in 23 minutes. TNT also lost the rebounding battle by a big margin, 60-41. On Wednesday, Aguilar was limited to only six points and five rebounds while LA Tenorio and Scottie Thompson didn't score until the final minute of that important win. Stanley Pringle was almost unstoppable in doing everything for Ginebra as Pringle had 34 points, eight assists, six rebounds, and a steal in 41 minutes. But more than Pringle doing Stanley Pringle things, it was the small things that killed TNT's chances in Game Two.

Not only did the Tropang Giga allowed Ginebra to come back from a 15-point hole, but they were already over the foul limit with five minutes to spare in the final quarter which meant every TNT foul gave the Ginebra trips to the free-throw line. For the game, the Gin Kings shot 28 for 38 from the free-throw line. 

Another issue that buried TNT in a 0-2 hole heading into Friday's Game Three is JP Erram's missing numbers. 

On Sunday's Game One, Erram had 10 points and 10 rebounds but shot four for 11 from the field. On Wednesday, Erram had 11 points and 11 rebounds but he also shot three for 11 from the field. This isn't the kind of numbers TNT expected from Erram when they traded for him. They need more from Erram if they want to start climbing back up in this series.

TNT is down in this series but they aren't out of the picture. With or without Ray Parks for Game Three, the Tropang Giga will need to play better and smarter.

As TNT Head Coach Bong Ravena admitted after Game Two, "We were outsmarted," 

Photo is from ESPN