Tropang Giga need to work on defense, says Lastimosa

MANILA, Philippines – Jojo Lastimosa is far from satisfied with the TNT Tropang Giga's performance in the squad’s 123-119 win over the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters in their PBA Governors’ Cup debut Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In his first game as TNT head coach, Lastimosa said that though his wards exceeded his expectations on one end, there was much to work on defensively.

"Well definitely, we scored more than how we expected to score. But again, we have to look at the defensive side. Because what happened was last conference, I think the defense was tougher and we're giving up too many points," lamented Lastimosa after the game.

Though heading into the half in a deadlock, it didn't sit well with the first-time head coach that his team allowed 60 big points in just the first two quarters of play.

"We were just we're looking like a layup line in the first half," said Lastimosa.

After the break, his team did try to defend better and succeeded to some extent. But Lastimosa believed that it was more of their offense that helped them clinch the victory.

"But we played so much better defense in the second half and I think more than anything, it wasn't really a defensive game," said Lastimosa.

"It was more us making big shots than the other side so I think that was the big difference." he added.

Jalen Hudson paced TNT's offense to outgun Phoenix with a near triple-double of 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

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When Lastimosa gets his second game under his belt, he wants to see better effort on defense. This will be tested on Friday, January 27, when TNT faces Rain or Shine at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.