Tropa pull off escape act

MANILA, Philippines — Rising to the occasion in a high-stakes PBA Philippine Cup finals opener witnessed by an electric 8,548-strong crowd that included NBA player Jordan Clarkson, TNT delivered the first blow on San Miguel Beer.

And the Tropang Giga did it in the most exciting style.

Locked in an exciting finish, Jayson Castro, TNT’s battle-tested spiritual leader, delivered once again and knocked down the buzzer-beating jumper that lifted the defending champions to a pulsating 86-84 escape act last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Castro’s dagger sealed a gritty fightback by TNT from a 15-point deficit en route to a 1-0 lead in the race-to-four contest between two proud champion franchises.

The victory also served as a nice sendoff for TNT coach Chot Reyes, who is temporarily leaving the bench to focus on Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers fourth window.

After initially playing catch-up, the Tropang Giga unloaded a searing 33-15 salvo in the third quarter to turn things around and even enjoy a 79-69 spread. SMB clawed back and drew level at 84-84 before TNT made the bigger plays in the last 31 ticks.

The Tropang Giga forced the Beermen to a 24-second shot-clock violation, which led to the final offensive that saw Castro wiggle away from Simon Enciso and launch a 16-footer in the nick of time.

It went in and after tense moments of video review, referees declared the shot counted.

“In the end, it’s great that Jayson made the shot but it was better that we gave ourselves a chance when we forced San Miguel to a 24-second violation. That was the key,” said Reyes.

Castro finished with 15 to back up RR Pogoy (26) and Mikey Williams (21).

June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez led SMB with 24 and 21, respectively.

Clarkson arrived at the Big Dome in the second quarter to the delight of the crowd.

After exchanging pleasantries with Fajardo and Chris Ross who approached him on their way to the dugout, Clarkson headed over to the TNT section to greet Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan.

The TNT honcho and basketball patron wished the Utah Jazz star well in their trip to Lebanon.

“You better win, right?” Pangilinan told Clarkson.

The Gilas naturalized player said he had fun seeing familiar faces in action in such a highly-charged game.

“It’s amazing seeing Castro, Perez, Chris Ross, everybody just having a good time hooping in big-time finals. Just happy to be here,” he said in the TV5 interview.

NOTES: The high-level competition in the coming PBA Commissioner’s Cup is taking shape with a mix of familiar faces and new ones set to see action as reinforcements. From the ranks of balik-imports are Barangay Ginebra’s money man Justin Brownlee, NorthPort’s Prince Ibeh, and Terrafirma’s Lester Prosper. Among the debuting imports are TNT’s Cameron Oliver, Meralco’s Johnny O’ Bryant, Phoenix’ Kaleb Weeson, Converge’s Quincy Miller, and Blackwater’s Cameron Krutwig. Former NBA player Andrew Nicholson is also bound for his maiden PBA duty as the spearhead of guest team Bay Area Dragons.

Featuring imports standing no taller than 6-foot-10, the mid-season tournament blasts off on Sept. 21.

The mid-season competition is making its comeback after getting scratched off the calendar in Seasons 45 and 46 due to the pandemic. The last edition was played back in 2019 with the Chris McCullough-led San Miguel Beer ruling on the strength of a 4-2 finals victory over Terrence Jones and the TNT Tropang Giga.

Fresh from winning his fifth PBA title in the last Governors’ Cup, the 6-foot-6 Brownlee got Ginebra’s thrust to lead the bid against taller rivals. After all, he already pulled it off in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup, where the Gin Kings beat Renaldo Balkman and SMB in the Last Dance, 4-2, en route to his first Best Import accolade.

TNT and Meralco are banking on players with NBA experiences. For the Tropang Giga, the bet is on the 6-foot-8 Oliver, who played briefly for Houston and Atlanta. For the Bolts, it’s 6-foot-9 O’Bryant, who had stints with Milwaukee, Denver and Charlotte.

The 6-foot-10 Ibeh, meanwhile, is back for an unfinished business with NorthPort. In the 2019 staging, Ibeh led the Batang Pier to a second-best 9-2 record but failing to capitalize on their twice-to-beat edge, they lost two times to No. 7 and eventual champion SMB in the quarterfinals.

Prosper, Indonesia’s 6-foot-9 naturalized player, is joining the Dyip again after averaging 33.6 points and 16.9 rebounds three years ago.

Miller, who suited up for Sacramento and Detroit, takes the cudgels for the FiberXers and their new coach Aldin Ayo while Loyola standout Krutwig looks to help the Bossing continue their gains after their quarterfinal showing in the Philippine Cup and Weeson aims to bring in the needed firepower as the Fuel Masters move on without ace gunner Matthew Wright.

This early, Meralco coach Norman Black is excited to have O’Bryant on board to help fill in the void in the middle – something that was glaring in the Bolts’ 4-3 loss to SMB in the All-Filipino semis.

“I think we hit a homerun with this guy. But we’ll wait and see till the games start. But I think we got a good one,” he said.

The Bolts carry on with their quest for a breakthrough title after taking second place four times in the Governors’ Cup and coming a win short of making this year’s Philippine Cup finals.

“If we can be strong enough to compete in the All-Filipino and then we can get a good import, that would make a difference to get us over the hump,” he said.

“So we just want to get a solid player, somebody who we know is good offensively and defensively and who can rebound the basketball. In our case we don’t want a wingman; we want a guy who also plays in the paint because that’s our weakness.”