Drive for a title overlying theme in Tropang Giga-Hotshots finals

Michael Angelo S. Murillo,


Senior Reporter

THE best-of-seven Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals series between the TnT Tropang Giga and Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots tipped off on Wednesday with the hunger of both teams for a title an overlying theme.

Denied a Philippine Basketball Association title for some time now, the Tropang Giga and Hotshots are determined to finally break through and return to the top as champions.

“The team is really hungry. It has been six years since the franchise’s last championship,” said TnT Tropang Giga head coach Chot Reyes during the pre-finals virtual press conference on Tuesday.

TnT last tasted a PBA championship in the 2015 Commissioner’s Cup.

Since then, it has made it to the finals three times, the most recent last season where they lost to the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in the Philippine Cup finals, 4-1.

It is this finals futility of late that veteran TnT guard Jayson Castro wants to see ending in the ongoing series.

“Since our last championship, we always lose when we are in the finals. Hopefully this time, we can win the title,” he said.

The same drive is propelling another TnT stalwart Roger Pogoy, who is in search of his first-ever PBA title.

“In five years in the league, I have not won a championship. I am hoping this is the year that I finally get one. We’re going to work hard to get this championship,” the former Far Eastern University standout said.

TnT is seeking its sixth All-Filipino title, first since 2013, and eighth PBA crown in franchise history.

THIRD TIME’S A CHARM



For Magnolia, while the championship wait has not been that long as TnT, having won the PBA Governors’ Cup back in 2018, still having been a bridesmaid in the prestigious All-Filipino Cup twice in the previous three seasons has it itching to finally go over hump.

“This is our third time to go for the Philippine Cup title since 2018. Hopefully, we get over the hump. The players are hungry for this title,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero also at the press conference.

Apart from losing in the 2018 Philippine Cup finals, the Hotshots also wound up runner-up the following year in the same tournament. Both losses were at the hands of the San Miguel Beermen.

An elusive first-ever All-Filipino title, meanwhile, is what Hotshots All-Star Paul Lee is gunning for.

“This is special because it’s another chance for me to win my first-ever All-Filipino title. In my 10 years in the PBA, I have not won the All-Filipino,” said Mr. Lee, a three-time PBA champion since being drafted second overall in the 2011 rookie draft.

For Ian Sangalang, a championship would be a fitting ending for a tough campaign for them, that has seen them endure being away from their families and playing amid the uncertainties brought about by the pandemic.

“We have sacrificed a lot and winning the title will be a fitting reward for that,” he said.

The Hotshots are in search of Philippine Cup title number seven and 15

^th

league championship.

The TnT-Magnolia finals happening at the Don Honorio Ventura State University in Bacolor, Pampanga, is the first time the two teams are meeting in the championship since 2014 when Magnolia (then playing as San Mig Coffee) won the Commissioner’s Cup, part of its Grand Slam season.