(PBA image)
For Chot Reyes, the looming PBA Philippine Cup Finals isn’t about unfinished business—it’s about finally testing himself against Leo Austria on more equal footing.
Twice, Reyes has crossed paths with Austria on the league’s biggest stage. Twice, San Miguel Beer walked away with the trophy. This time around, the TNT Tropang 5G coach believes the circumstances are different enough to give his team a real shot at cracking the puzzle that has long frustrated him.
Reyes didn’t hide his respect for his longtime counterpart, admitting he welcomes another Finals duel with Austria, a coach he considers among the very best in the league. But alongside that respect is quiet confidence, born from what he sees as better preparation and more options at his disposal.
He acknowledged that TNT still isn’t at full strength—and even if it were, nothing is guaranteed at this level. What matters, he said, is that the Tropang 5G are finally giving themselves a fighting chance.
The numbers, on paper, favor Austria. Reyes is 0–2 in their head-to-head Finals matchups, losing the 2022–23 All-Filipino Cup in seven games and bowing again last season in six. But context, Reyes pointed out, has often worked against him.
In the first series, he was forced to juggle coaching duties with his responsibilities for the national team and missed the decisive Game 7 due to health protocols. Last year was no kinder, as injuries ravaged TNT’s rotation, sidelining key contributors and thinning an already stretched lineup.
Reyes recalled that in one Finals run, he coached only part of the series. In the other, his team was simply depleted. Still, he was quick to stress that none of those explanations diminish what Austria has accomplished.
Austria’s résumé speaks for itself. With seven Philippine Cup titles under his belt, the San Miguel mentor has built a reputation for steadiness, discipline, and an uncanny knack for peaking at the right time. Reyes made it clear that kind of sustained success doesn’t happen by accident.
Now, with a healthier roster and fewer distractions, Reyes sees this Finals as a fresh chapter rather than a continuation of past disappointments. It’s another chance to measure himself against Austria—and perhaps, finally, to tilt the balance.
Game 1 of the best-of-seven championship series between TNT Tropang 5G and San Miguel Beermen tips off Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, with PBA Philippine Cup glory once again on the line.