Trollano answers call

Before the start of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Don Trollano predicted San Miguel Beer to win over TNT via a 4-0 sweep. Eyebrows were raised when he made the forecast during the Finals presscon two days before Game 1. Of course, Trollano said it jokingly but deep down inside was a burning desire to win a third PBA championship at his former team’s expense.

In the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup Finals, Trollano was in a TNT uniform when San Miguel won the crown, 4-2, with coach Leo Austria outdueling coach Bong Ravena. Trollano was on the same side as Kelly Williams, Roger Pogoy and Brian Heruela against Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter and June Mar Fajardo. Now, he’s switched camps and after previous stops at Rain or Shine, TNT, Blackwater and NLEX, San Miguel is where his heart finally is.

In Game 2 of the raging Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Wednesday, Trollano delivered 22 points off the bench as San Miguel upended TNT, 98-92, to even the series, 1-1. The tiebreaker is set tonight, also at the Big Dome and Trollano is expected to continue playing a major role in San Miguel’s bid to end a three-conference title drought.

Trollano had 10 points at the half, didn’t score in the third frame then erupted for 12 in the payoff period where CJ Perez was blanked and JMF was held to only three free throws. He scored nine points in a decisive 11-5 run down the stretch. TNT trailed by only one at the start of the fourth but a short rotation left the Tropang 5G gasping for air in the end.  Heruela, Calvin Oftana, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Kim Aurin missed point-blank layups as TNT collapsed under the weight of five turnovers in the last 12 minutes. Oftana, who finished with 23 points, was zero in the fourth.

Five TNT players logged at least 20 minutes with Oftana clocking 42:05, compared to six for San Miguel with no one timing 40 or over. Coach Chot Reyes felt the pressure of a constricted lineup with Pogoy still not 100 percent, Poy Erram limping off the court for good with a sprained right ankle, time down to 9:04 in the third and BGR picking up his third foul with 1:43 left in the first half. Still, TNT made a fight of it and unloaded a 9-2 bomb to close the third quarter.

Austria’s adjustments were key in deepening his rotation. Ross started for the first time in the playoffs. Tautuaa replaced Rodney Brondial as JMF’s starting frontline partner. Relievers Jeron Teng, Trollano, Juami Tiongson, Brondial and Jericho Cruz contributed quality minutes. San Miguel’s bench produced 48 points to TNT’s 29. TNT shot 56.3 percent of its shots from three and four, resulting in an overall marksmanship of 39.4 percent while San Miguel focused on scoring inside with a 64-24 edge in paint points. The Beermen took only 16.5 percent of their shots from three and four. San Miguel’s 22:10 assist-to-turnover ratio was far superior to TNT’s 14:17 and a 53-43 advantage in rebounds also helped the Beermen take 20 more field goal attempts. It’s Reyes’ turn to make adjustments in Game 3.