This brings back great memories even if you’re not a TNT supporter.
Before the reign of June Mar Fajardo and the San Miguel Beermen's Death Five, the TNT Tropang Giga sat on the throne.
From 2010 to 2012, TNT boasted a formidable lineup under head coach Chot Reyes.
Reyes, at that time, had the likes of Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Jared Dillinger, Ali Peek, Kelly Williams, Ranidel de Ocampo, Harvey Carey, and Larry Fonacier at his disposal for most of that stretch.
And if you bring together players of that caliber in their prime, multiple championships will follow. In fact, that squad almost won a Grand Slam in the 2010-11 season. The Petron Blaze Boosters (San Miguel's former designation) just got in the way, snaring the Governors’ Cup title that season.
But that near-miss didn’t dampen the Tropa's spirits one bit, as they returned the following season and defended the All-Filipino title at the expense of the Powerade Tigers.
It was a special squad. No, it was a dynasty. Just ask Dillinger and Alapag.
"TNT JD was different," Dillinger wrote as caption in a photo of that team that he posted on Instagram. And, yes, the gang was all there: The Daredevil, The Mighty Mouse, The Baby-faced Assassin, The Blur, Machine Gun Kelly, and everybody else.
Alapag himself posted the same picture in his Instagram Story:
To this day, TNT remains a powerhouse team even with Castro the only remnant from that legendary roster, along with Ryan Reyes.
Though they are currently struggling in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup and the EASL, one cannot simply count out the Tropang Giga. After all, they have a winning tradition unlike no other.
(MDB)