The Revival

Calling the shots
(Photo credit: Inquirer.net)

We owe TNT Katropa head coach Jong Uichico an apology.

For a while there, when Coach Jong appeared to be running everything through Jayson Castro reminiscent of how his mentor Ron Jacobs rode “Da Bull” Nelson Asaytono in the late 90s at San Miguel, we started to believe that this guy was nothing more than a relic. A relic who insists on running outdated hero/ isolation plays in an ever-evolving sport of spread-out offenses and taller three-point specialists.

What made it even worse is that, he seemed to be changing the philosophies and culture of the very team that pioneered and mastered this new, Euro-style of play in the PBA.

Again, we owe him an apology.

Coach Jong’s TNT is currently sitting atop the PBA Governor’s Cup standings with a 6 wins – 1 loss record; they have succeeded thus far not with hero/iso ball plays but with a well-balanced offense reminiscent of the team’s early (read: Chot Reyes) years.

Sure, Castro is still putting up “supernatural” numbers (31mpg 20ppg 4rpg 7apg), but not far behind are reinforcements Mychal Ammons (35/20/17/1), Michael Madanly (27/15/3/1); veterans Ranidel de Ocampo (28/13/6/2), Ryan Reyes (25/7/5/2); and young studs Troy Rosario (22/10/6/1) and Moala Tautuaa (19/8/5/1). There are also other guys on the roster who have found ways to contribute such as newcomer Kris Rosales, 1x PBA MVP Kelly Williams, Larry Fonacier and Harvey Carey, to name a few.

Suddenly, teams have to be wary (once again) of everyone on the floor and not just Castro or Ammons. It is even pretty “normal” these days to see Castro working off the ball, with either Reyes or Rosales running the point to help distribute/ move the ball to the weak side (i.e. the other side of the half-court offense where Castro’s not located).

To be rather blunt, TNT is in a very solid position to win it all after mediocre finishes in this season’s first two conferences. Though Mahindra is close, it still needs to prove to everyone that their current steak is not a fluke. San Miguel, the biggest thorn in TNT’s side, is busy trying to rid itself of injuries and drama while Alaska appears to be on rebuilding mode. The other contender, Rain or Shine, is busy trying to convince its players, who are coming off a championship romp, to perform on the court in spite of (near) expired contracts which have yet to be renewed.

The way things are going right now, if the Finals were to be held today, TNT is looking at Ginebra as its biggest threat. Can Ginebra beat TNT in a Finals series right now? We are not so sure about that, not yet. Not until Greg Slaughter joins the mix.

Back to TnT and how they managed to rebuild on the fly—perhaps this was the risk that Coach Jong took when he was named head coach. Perhaps this is why he deliberately switched his offense to a more Castro-centric one early on, to keep them competitive while they were trying to incorporate young pieces Rosario, Tautuaa and Matt Ganuelas.

One thing is clear, Coach Jong may have surpassed his mentor by adjusting to the times. A couple more titles would only cement this (near blasphemous) claim.

Your thoughts? @kilikilishot on Twitter.