TNT's Perfect Start: What Went Right?

When the TNT Tropang Giga acquired JP Erram last February, many thought the move would boost the team's status as a legitimate championship contender. If their first three games in the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup is an indication, it looks like TNT finally has the pieces to compete for the all-Filipino title inside the PBA bubble in Clark. 

Three games. Three wins. That's how the Tropang Giga started the Clark bubble with their latest win being against defending champions, San Miguel Beermen who are now more undermanned after losing Terrence Romeo after Romeo dislocated his shoulder in the first half of Friday's game. The big question is this: How did the Tropang Giga sustain a hot start in Clark?

TNT didn't have a good start in their first game against the Alaska Aces to open the restart. The Aces even led as much as 17 points and finished the first quarter with a 30-15 lead. When the second quarter got rolling, that was when TNT started to get hot offensively as they outscored Alaska, 33-18 in the second quarter alone. And even though Erram got ejected from the game, TNT got the big 100-95 win thanks to RR Pogoy's 45-point explosion and Jayson Castro's 28 points including the team's final four points that helped seal the win. It's not just one player who's doing the heavy scoring for Coach Bong Ravena. In the next game, it was Ray Parks' turn to score a career-high 40 points with Troy Rosario adding 20 points and 15 rebounds in TNT's 112-101 win against the TerraFirma Dyip. Three other players also scored 11 points or more for TNT. In Friday's win, six TNT players scored in double digits led by Erram's 27 points.

Another thing that worked for TNT's great start to the 2020 Philippine Cup is Jayson Castro's coming off the bench in all of the games. Over the course of the past seasons, Castro was the primary scoring option alongside Rosario and in the past, Castro would do Jayson Castro things until the end of the eliminations and once the playoffs start, that's where Castro's endurance gets tested as being the team's primary offensive threat means opposing teams would throw everything at him just to contain his outburst.  In the first three games of the 2020 Philippine Cup, Castro averaged 27 minutes of playing time off the bench. If TNT can manage to stay on top while maintaining Castro's minutes, that will allow the Blur to have fresher legs for the playoffs. 

Despite having multiple scoring options on their team, TNT isn't the highest-scoring team in the bubble right now as they're only averaging 106 points per game which is only second to the 113-point per game average of the Meralco Bolts. It boils down to efficiency as TNT is shooting 45% from the field, 60% from the two-point area, 32% from the three-point line, and 82% from the free-throw line. 

They have five players who are averaging 15 points or more. Jayson Castro doesn't start and doesn't play heavy minutes. The team's offense is efficient even they are also averaging 20 turnovers per game. Who knows? The TNT Tropang Giga might actually win the Philippine Cup for the first time since the 2012-2013 season. 

Photo is from ESPN