NINE-TIME PBA champion coach Chot Reyes is back at the helm of the Tropang Giga following a one-year coaching hiatus from the sidelines.
Reyes' return to TNT head coaching position was announced at the Tropang Giga's official Facebook page on Saturday, where a photo of the six-time PBA Coach of the Year, along with team governor Ricky Vargas, team owner Manny V. Pangilinan was posted.
The 59-year-old Reyes' TNT comeback came just three days after the Tropang Giga saw their PBA Season 48 Commissioner's Cup campaign come to an end after falling to top seed Magnolia, 109-94.
The Tropang Giga entered the opening round of the playoffs as eighth seed, drawing an unenviable task of playing the title-hungry Hotshots.
With injuries to key players, most notably veteran guard Jayson Castro, along with the absence of big men Poy Erram and Justin Chua, who missed the entire conference as they continued to recover from separate knee issues, TNT went through a roller-coaster ride in the import-spiced tournament.
Roger Pogoy managed to return at the final game of the team's elimination round schedule after recovering from myocarditis. But his comeback was short-lived, with TNT bowing to Magnolia in the quarterfinals.
Adding further problems under coach and team manager Jojo Lastimosa was the sudden change of import halfway through the conference after Rondae Hollis-Jefferson suffered a bad fall in an EASL (East Asia Super League) game last December.
He was replaced by his brother Rahlir.
Still, TNT managed to fight through adversity under Lastimosa, who was best remembered for steering the proud PBA franchise to the 2022-23 Governors' Cup crown in April 2023.
Reyes, the fiery Filipino veteran mentor, temporarily gave way to Lastimosa as the former was, surprisingly, yanked out from the PBA coaching last year in order to handle the preparations of Gilas Pilipinas for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
While his return to the Gilas drew much criticism from rabid Filipino cage fans on various social media platforms, Reyes managed to help Gilas cough out a victory on the final day of the FIBA World Cup preliminary stage, a 96-75 rout of many-time Asian basketball powerhouse to salvage some measure of pride for the country, which served as co-hosts of the prestigious world basketball event.
After the game though, Reyes announced that he is "stepping out" of Gilas coaching.
Lastimosa continued handling the team during the opening of the PBA Season 48.
Read The Rest at :
