TNT: Hitting the right frequencies in PBA bubble

Relegated to the sidelines in recent years, Talk ’N Text’s dominance in the PBA seems like a mere footnote in local basketball history.  

The small ball formula which worked wonders for the team during their reign – where they reached the finals in 7 straight conferences between 2010 to 2013, winning the championship 4 times – was refuted time and time again by the emergence of a new super squad in San Miguel Beer.

Since then, TNT made the finals just twice in the last 13 conferences, winning their last crown 6 years ago as the ballclub simply could not find an antidote to the Beermen and their cornerstone, June Mar Fajardo.

Yet things seem to be looking up for TNT in the PBA bubble. Sporting not just a new moniker but also a new brand of play, the Tropang Giga got off to a blazing 4-0 start, winning their games by an average margin of 13.45 points. 

They have done so with a high-frequency, high-octane offense that opposing teams have struggled to keep pace with. And after their last win, TNT is now the highest scoring team in the bubble, averaging 107.24 points per game. 

The Tropang Giga’s offensive assault is often predicated on getting easy baskets through ball movement and transition. They are fourth in the league in assists and among the best in fastbreak points. Not only are they trying to overwhelm opposition with an avalanche of points, but they are doing so with accuracy and efficiency. 

The three-point shot has been one of the Tropang Giga’s weapons of choice, attempting a league high 43.5 tries and connecting 13.5 times. They complement their three-point shooting with an outstanding 59% clip from two-point distance. 

A far second in two-point field goals made are Barangay Ginebra and Alaska, which are both connecting on 51% of their attempts from the field. 

What makes the Tropang Giga even more dangerous is that aside from being a potent offensive squad, they also are doing the dirty work and outhustling their opponents. 

They are tops in the league in offensive rebounds and second overall in total rebounds. They are also averaging close to 9 steals per outing, third-best in the PBA.

Looking at the team’s composition will help shed light on why the Tropang Giga have been playing like a legitimate title contender. 

The team these recent years has been a donut team which had a solid core but had a hole in the middle. This has been addressed with the entry of JP Erram, who has established himself as one of the PBA’s premier slotmen.

Despite an unproductive debut in their first game when he was thrown out, Erram has bounced back to average 15.75 points and 6 boards in 4 games. His frontcourt partner Troy Rosario is producing RDO-type numbers with averages of 14 points and 8 rebounds. 

A Tropang Giga combination featuring Erram, Rosario, Bobby Ray Parks, RR Pogoy, and Jayson Castro spells like a Gilas Pilipinas 5 and is arguably the strongest 5 in the league that any team can field in. 

All 5 of these guys are scoring in double figures with the most prolific being Pogoy, who is hitting 25.25 points, and Parks, who is averaging 24.67 points per game. 

But the barometer for the team’s success remains two-time Asian best point guard Castro, their leader on the floor who is the glue that holds the team together. 

The Blur, even at 34 years old, still averages 16 points a game despite mostly deferring to his younger teammates on offense and focusing on playmaking. He is also dishing out 5.5 assists and completing 1.75 steals per game.

But what is perhaps being overlooked thus far is how TNT consultant Mark Dickel has masterfully handled the Tropang Giga. 

Dickel, who as the starting point guard of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) led the US NCAA in assists, has molded the Tropang Giga into a cerebral, running, offensive machine that can turn up the defense when the opposing team gets to close on the scoreboard. 

It took a while for Dickel to establish his imprint in TNT, but now that the ballclub has bought into and adjusted to his system, the results are beginning to show.

In their recent game versus Phoenix, the Tropang Giga came back from a nine-point halftime deficit by only allowing the Fuel Masters to score 14 points in the 3rd quarter. 

The Tropang Giga’s defense stifled the usually potent Phoenix squad, which was scoring a then league-leading 113 points a game and limited them to a conference low 91 points en route to a 19-point TNT victory.

Fair warning to the rest of the field – the results could still get better for the Tropang Giga. 

With a reliable supporting cast made up of Simon Enciso, Samboy De Leon, David Semerad, plus veterans Ryan Reyes, Harvey Carey, and Jay Washington, the Tropang Giga has a solid rotation that could sustain their strong start this conference. 

The Tropang Giga know this conference is their best shot at regaining their standing as one of the top teams in the league. Their unbeaten start in the Clark bubble indicates that the Tropang Giga have cleared the signals for them to once again become a major force in the PBA. – Rappler.com