MANILA – TNT Tropang Giga will have its full roster back for the restart of the 2021-2022 PBA Governor’s Cup this Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Tropang Giga head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes bared over the weekend that Bacolodnon Kib Montalbo and Jeth Troy Rosario have already joined the team practices.
“Kib Montalbo is already practicing fully, and Troy Rosaio is practicing fully,too. By the resumption of the PBA, I expect to have both of them back,” Reyes said in an interview at PBA website.
The Tropang Giga are currently in Malarayat in Batangas where they’re holding training camp in preparation for the restart of the season-ending conference.
Bacolod City’s Montalbo went under the knife due to a meniscal tear just after their 2021 PBA Philippine Cup coronation last year in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Rosario, on the other hand, has yet to see action in the Governors’ Cup. He suffered a spinal shock and a dislocated pinky during the same all-Filipino Cup finals against Magnolia Hotshots.
The return of Montalbo and Rosario is definitely a welcome one for the Tropang Giga, which struggled to keep within the .500 mark (2-2) heading to the month-long break.
Aside from Montalbo and Rosario, the Tropang Giga is set to have Aaron Fuller as their permanent import and also acquired Matthew Ganuelas-Rosser via free agency.
The Tropang Giga is expected to have consecutive games in the PBA Governors’ Cup restart as the core of its lineup is set to reinforce Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA qualifiers later this month.
The Tropang Giga last played on Dec. 26, 2021 and defeated Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 95-92, before the league went on a month-long hiatus due to COVID-19 upsurge./PN