BOTHERED by injuries at the most crucial stage of its PBA grand slam quest, TNT is counting on its resilience to overcome the odds one last time in Season 49.
"Pataasan na ng will power siguro," said Tropang 5G star Calvin Oftana ahead of the start of the best of seven Philippine Cup finals against San Miguel Beer on Sunday.
"Lalo na sa team namin, ang daming iniinda pero 'yun nga, lumalaban pa rin kami sa lahat ng mga nangyari sa team namin. And we'll take it one game at a time."
TNT will gun for the third jewel with a walking wounded crew.
Oftana himself is dealing with ankle issues from the grueling semifinal encounter with Rain or Shine while RR Pogoy is still recovering from hamstring injury and Kelly Williams is doubtful due to ankle sprain.
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The Tropang 5G are already missing Jayson Castro and Rey Nambatac, who were Finals MVP when they ruled the Governors' Cup and Commissioner's Cup, respectively, and will rely on Jordan Heading to fill in their big shoes.
"Not only because those two guys are not here but because of what we're facing (San Miguel)," said coach Chot Reyes in describing the difficulty of the task.
"Like they've (SMB) said already, they've owned the All-Filipino the past 10 years, eight finals out of the last 10. That's a special feat. So yes, it will definitely be more difficult on that note."
The Tropang 5G's toughness facing adversity has served them well in the season-ending conference, allowing them to climb out of difficult situations like a 0-3 start, a twice-to-win disadvantage against Magnolia in the quarterfinals, and a deeper Rain or Shine foe in the semifinals.
"That's really a testament to the fighting spirit of the players," said Reyes during Friday's pre-finals presscon.
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"They just refuse to give up. Ayaw talaga bumigay, maski na pwede na. We could have called it a day. And no one can take anything away from us; we've won the last two championships so even if we had given up, okay na rin 'yun. But they kept fighting.
"So sinasabi namin palagi sa team namin as long as you keep fighting then you'll give yourself a chance. And now we're here. We've given ourselves a chance. We know napakalakas ng kalaban namin, with all of our injuries, as well. But ah we will just do what we've been doing the whole conference - keep fighting and trying to give ourselves a chance," he added.(OL)
