Tropang Giga welcome the long breather before the PBA semis resume

AFTER the tough grind of every-other-day games, holder TNT welcomes the relatively long breather before plunging into the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals next week.

The Tropang Giga marched to the Final Four on Tuesday after dispatching quarterfinal rival NLEX in four matches,  and would only return to action at the start of the next round on Wednesday.

And their next opponent would even have to kill each other off in a deciding Game 5 this Saturday first, giving TNT extra prep time against whoever between Rain or Shine or Magnolia would eventually make it to the best-of-seven semis dance.

“Any chance that we get to rest and recover especially at this stage is crucial,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes, whose troops battled the Road Warriors four times in the six days.

Mr. Reyes stressed the challenge is to get the players led by import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, young gun Calvin Oftana and vets Jayson Castro, Kelly Williams and RR Pogoy recharged but sharp during this eight-day lull.

“It (break) is certainly going to be very valuable but it will only be valuable if we make good use of it,” he said.

“That rest,  you know how it is, right? There’s always going to be that give and take between resting and being fresh and just losing your edge. So we have to make a real good determination on the quality of our preparation and practices in these next few days,” he added.

Barangay Ginebra, the team TNT defeated for the crown in the last edition of the GC, is in the same boat.

After sweeping Meralco in the Last-8, 3-0, last Monday, the Tim Cone-coached squad waits for San Miguel Beer and Converge to settle their dispute for an F4 ticket first. The FiberXers stopped the Beermen’s sweep bid with a gutsy 114-112 steal on Monday, setting the stage for Game 4 on Friday. Should Converge make it back-to-back, it would come down to a sudden death on Sunday.

“At this point, no matter who we play — San Miguel or Converge — we know it’s going to be tough. It’s the playoffs so it’s going to be it’s not going to be easy whatever it is. But we got some time to prepare for either team,” said Ginebra’s heart and soul Justin Brownlee. — Olmin Leyba