TNT coach Chot Reyes echoed PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan's words about the Tropang 5G needing not to bow their heads down following their loss to the San Miguel Beermen in the PBA Philippine Cup finals.
Reyes said it was one hell of a journey for the telecommunication franchise in Season 49 that saw it win two of the three conference championships at stake.
On Friday night, the team went down against the Beermen, 107-96, in the closeout Game 6 of their title series to fall two wins short of completing a rare grand slam.
But Reyes pointed out, only a few teams are given a chance to have a shot at completing a season sweep.
"I told the players hindi biro yung ginawa namin," he said. "Of course we're still very sad, but there's nothing to be ashamed of."
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In a way, his words reflected the same outlook provided by Pangilinan when he visited the team inside the Philsports dugout to uplift their spirit following the title loss.
"I think our Chairman MVP said it best that 'our heads are vowed in sorrow, but not in shame,'" Reyes said in sharing what Pangilinan told the Tropang 5G.
After winning the Governors' and Commissioner's Cup, expectations were high on TNT making a serious shot at completing a grand sweep of the season.
The Tropang 5G did make it to the finals despite a shaky 0-3 start, survived a twice-to-beat advantage by Magnolia in the quarterfinals, but ended up meeting top seed San Miguel Beer in the best-of-seven title series.
TNT tried to fight San Miguel on even terms despite not having a healthy roster that was further aggravated when it lost key players Poy Erram and Simon Enciso to injuries during the course of the finals.
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The team was already without Jayson Castro, Rey Nambatac, and rookie Jielo Razon during the playoffs, while the hot-shooting trio of Roger Pogoy (hamstring), Calvin Oftana (sprained ankles), and Jordan Heading (back spasm) were dealing with injuries of their own.
"We played the finals with only one game where we had a complete lineup," added Reyes, referring to Game 1 which TNT won, 99-96.
But what was a rousing start began to spiral as the series wore on, with injuries catching up with Erram and Enciso midway in the finals.
In the end, the Tropang Giga just couldn't match up with what firepower San Miguel had, and lost in their bid to put the finishing touches to what could have been the first grand slam season in more than a decade.
Yet looking back, Reyes said there's no regret on losing this one.
"I'm so very proud of this team. We got the best out of what we had," said the TNT coach. (RG)
