He had nothing but praises for the opposing team.
TNT Tropang Giga coach Jojo Lastimosa didn’t hide his disappointment in the aftermath of a heartbreaking 99-66 loss to Utsunomiya Brex in the team's EASL Champions Week opener in Okinawa, Japan on Wednesday.
The Japan B.League champions turned a tight game into a breakaway in the second period, outscoring the Tropang Giga, 32-8. TNT struggled to find a way to recover as the Brex buried them with one triple after another.
“It wasn’t a beautiful game for us. Hats off to the home team, to the Utsunomiya Brex. They played really well. It is obvious the team, they have really good chemistry. Their imports played really well with the locals,” said Lastimosa.
Lastimosa is not making excuses.
“I’m not making any excuses, but it shows they are very well coached as well. I just thought we should have played a little better to make it more entertaining. So, that was really a bit disappointing for me and the team,” he said.
TNT reinforcement Jalen Hudson said things went downhill for the Tropang Giga when Brex began using the pick-and-pop to perfection.
“Just looking back on the game, I thought towards the second quarter, when they started pick and popping with one of their bigs, that's where they started to get on a roll,” he said.
After the one-sided affair, Hudson had nothing but praises for the Brex.
“Gotta give credit to them. They played really well, they played together. And they’re a deep team too,” he said.
The Tropang Giga are a deep team, too, and they will look to bounce back on Friday, March 3, as they take on the Seoul SK Knights.