2015–16 TNT KaTropa season

2015–16 TNT KaTropa season
Head coach	Jong Uichico
Owner(s)	Smart Communications (an MVP group subsidiary)
Philippine Cup results Record 6–5 (.545) Place 6th Playoff finish Quarterfinalist (Lost to Rain or Shine in single-elimination Phase 2) Commissioner's Cup results Record 6–5 (.545) Place 6th Playoff finish Quarterfinalist Lost to Alaska, 1-2) Governors' Cup results Record 10–1 (.909) Place 1st Playoff finish Semifinalist Lost to Meralco, 1-3) TNT KaTropa seasons 2014-15 2016-17

The 2015–16 TNT KaTropa season is the 26th season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team was known as the "TNT Tropang Texters" in the Philippine Cup, "Tropang TNT" in the Commissioner's Cup and "TNT KaTropa" in the Governors' Cup.

Key dates

• August 23: The 2015 PBA draft took place at Midtown Atrium, Robinson Place Manila.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	PBA D-League team	College
1	1	Moala Tautuaa	PF/C	United States	Cebuana Lhuillier Gems	Chadron State
3	31	Michole Sorela	C	Philippines	Hapee Fresh Fighters	San Beda
4	40	Joshua Cubillo	SG	United States	none	CSU Fullerton
5	47	Emilian Vargas	SG	Philippines	none	St. Claire Caloocan

Roster

TNT KaTropa roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # POB Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From G 1 Rosales, Kris (R) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1990–12–20 Hope International F 4 Carey, Harvey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1979–03–18 Sonoma State G 5 Reyes, Jai 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1987–02–25 Ateneo G/F 6 Ababou, Dylan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1986–12–07 UST F/C 7 Tautuaa, Moala (R) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1989–04–30 Chadron State G/F 8 Nuyles, Alex 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 199 lb (90 kg) 1989–07–05 Adamson G 10 Reyes, Ryan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1983–08–10 Cal State Fullerton G/F 12 Fonacier, Larry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1982–05–13 Ateneo G 17 Castro, Jayson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1986–06–30 Philippine Christian F/C 18 Rosario, Jeth Troy (R) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1992–01–20 National-U F/C 21 Williams, Kelly 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1982–02–07 Oakland G/F 22 Ganuelas-Rosser, Matthew 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1990–06–13 Cal Poly Pomona F 33 de Ocampo, Ranidel (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1981–12–08 St. Francis of Assisi F 42 Seigle, Danny 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1976–06–14 Wagner G/F 51 Aban, Aaron (IN) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1982–04–08 Letran	Head coach Jong Uichico Assistant coach(es) Nash Racela (1st Assistant) Bong Ravena Joshua Reyes Arturo dela Cruz Team manager Virgil Villavicencio Magnum Membrere (Assistant) Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie Injured Roster

Philippine Cup

Eliminations

Standings

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Alaska Aces	9	2	.818[lower-alpha 1]	—	Outright semifinals
2	San Miguel Beermen	9	2	.818[lower-alpha 1]	—
3	Rain or Shine Elasto Painters	8	3	.727	1	Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals
4	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	7	4	.636[lower-alpha 2]	2
5	GlobalPort Batang Pier	7	4	.636[lower-alpha 2]	2
6	TNT Tropang Texters	6	5	.545	3
7	NLEX Road Warriors	5	6	.455[lower-alpha 3]	4	Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals
8	Barako Bull Energy	5	6	.455[lower-alpha 3]	4
9	Star Hotshots	4	7	.364	5
10	Blackwater Elite	3	8	.273	6
11	Mahindra Enforcer	2	9	.182	7	Eliminated
12	Meralco Bolts	1	10	.091	8

Source: PBA.ph
Notes:

1. Alaska wins tiebreaker against San Miguel via head-to-head record.
2. Ginebra wins tiebreaker against GlobalPort via head-to-head record.
3. NLEX wins tiebreaker against Barako Bull via head-to-head record.

Playoffs

Bracket

	Quarterfinals (1st phase)						Quarterfinals (2nd phase) (One-game playoff)					Semifinals (Best-of-7)					Finals (Best-of-7)
		(#3 twice to beat)
	3	Rain or Shine		95
	10	Blackwater		90
							3	Rain or Shine	104
		(#6 twice to beat)					6	TNT	89			3	Rain or Shine	2
	6	TNT		90								2	San Miguel	4
	7	NLEX		88
																	2	San Miguel	4
		(#4 twice to beat)															1	Alaska	3
	4	Barangay Ginebra		92*
	9	Star		89								1	Alaska	4
							4	Barangay Ginebra	83			5	GlobalPort	1
		(#5 twice to beat)					5	GlobalPort	84*
	5	GlobalPort		94
	8	Barako Bull		85

*Game went into overtime

Commissioner's Cup

Eliminations

Standings

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	San Miguel Beermen	8	3	.727[lower-alpha 1]	—	Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals
2	Meralco Bolts	8	3	.727[lower-alpha 1]	—
3	Alaska Aces	7	4	.636[lower-alpha 2]	1	Best-of-three quarterfinals
4	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	7	4	.636[lower-alpha 2]	1
5	Rain or Shine Elasto Painters	7	4	.636[lower-alpha 2]	1
6	Tropang TNT	6	5	.545	2
7	NLEX Road Warriors	5	6	.455[lower-alpha 3]	3	Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals
8	Star Hotshots	5	6	.455[lower-alpha 3]	3
9	Mahindra Enforcer	4	7	.364	4	Eliminated
10	Blackwater Elite	3	8	.273[lower-alpha 4]	5
11	Phoenix Fuel Masters	3	8	.273[lower-alpha 4]	5
12	GlobalPort Batang Pier	3	8	.273[lower-alpha 4]	5

Source: PBA.ph
Notes:

1. San Miguel wins tiebreaker against Meralco via head-to-head record.
2. Alaska wins tiebreaker against Barangay Ginebra and Rain or Shine via best head-to-head record. Alaska is 2–0; Barangay Ginebra is 1–1; Rain or Shine is 0–2.
3. NLEX wins tiebreaker against Star via head-to-head record.
4. Blackwater wins tiebreaker against Phoenix and GlobalPort by greatest quotient. Blackwater with 1.04; Phoenix with 0.99; GlobalPort with 0.98.

Playoffs

Bracket

	Quarterfinals						Semifinals (Best-of-5)					Finals (Best-of-7)
		(#1 twice to beat)
	1	San Miguel	99	103
	8	Star	108	99
							1	San Miguel	1
		(Best-of-3)					5	Rain or Shine	3
	4	Barangay Ginebra	0
	5	Rain or Shine	2
												5	Rain or Shine	4
		(#2 twice-to-beat)										3	Alaska	2
	2	Meralco	104
	7	NLEX	97
							2	Meralco	2
		(Best-of-3)					3	Alaska	3
	3	Alaska	2
	6	TNT	1

Governors' Cup

Eliminations

Standings

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	TNT KaTropa	10	1	.909	—	Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals
2	San Miguel Beermen	8	3	.727[lower-alpha 1]	2
3	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	8	3	.727[lower-alpha 1]	2
4	Meralco Bolts	6	5	.545[lower-alpha 2]	4
5	Mahindra Enforcer	6	5	.545[lower-alpha 2]	4	Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals
6	Alaska Aces	6	5	.545[lower-alpha 2]	4
7	NLEX Road Warriors	5	6	.455[lower-alpha 3]	5
8	Phoenix Fuel Masters	5	6	.455[lower-alpha 3]	5
9	Rain or Shine Elasto Painters	5	6	.455[lower-alpha 3]	5	Eliminated
10	GlobalPort Batang Pier	4	7	.364	6
11	Star Hotshots	2	9	.182	8
12	Blackwater Elite	1	10	.091	9

Source: PBA.ph
Notes:

1. San Miguel wins tiebreaker against Barangay Ginebra via head-to-head record.
2. Meralco wins tiebreaker against Mahindra and Alaska via best head-to-head record. Meralco is 2–0; Mahindra is 1–1; Alaska is 0–2. Meralco then won the seeding playoff for 4th seed against Mahindra.
3. NLEX wins tiebreaker against Rain or Shine and Phoenix by highest quotient. NLEX is 1.04; Rain or Shine is 1.03; Phoenix is 0.93. Phoenix then won the seeding playoff for 8th seed against Rain or Shine.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals						Semifinals (Best-of-5)					Finals (Best-of-7)
		(#1 twice to beat)
	1	TNT	136
	8	Phoenix	124
							1	TNT	1
		(#4 twice to beat)					4	Meralco	3
	4	Meralco	105
	5	Mahindra	82
												4	Meralco	2
		(#2 twice to beat)										3	Barangay Ginebra	4
	2	San Miguel	114
	7	NLEX	110
							2	San Miguel	2
		(#3 twice to beat)					3	Barangay Ginebra	3
	3	Barangay Ginebra	109
	6	Alaska	104

Transactions

Trades

Off-season

August 7, 2015[1]

To Blackwater Mike Cortez and James Sena (from Meralco)

To Meralco Jimmy Alapag (from Talk 'N Text via Blackwater)

To Talk 'N Text Larry Rodriguez (from Blackwater)

August 24, 2015[2]

To GlobalPort Jay Washington

To Talk 'N Text Dennis Miranda

August 25, 2015[3]

To NLEX Kevin Alas (from Talk 'N Text via Mahindra)

To Mahindra Niño Canaleta and Aldrech Ramos (from NLEX) Robert Reyes (from Talk 'N Text)

To Talk 'N Text Troy Rosario (from Mahindra)

October 8, 2015[4]	To Barako Bull 2016 second round pick	To Talk 'N Text Dylan Ababou

Recruited imports

Tournament	Name	Debuted	Last game	Record
Commissioner's Cup	No Import	February 10 (vs. Blackwater), February 19 (vs. GlobalPort)		1–1
	Ivan Johnson[5]	February 13 (vs. Meralco)	February 13 (vs. Meralco)	0–1
	David Simon[6]	February 24 (vs. Alaska)	April 22 (vs. Alaska)	6–5
Governors' Cup	Mario Little	July 20 (vs. Rain or Shine)	August 3 (vs. NLEX)	4–0
	Mychal Ammons[7]	August 13 (vs. Blackwater)	October 3 (vs. Meralco)	8–4
	Michael Madanly*[8]	July 20 (vs. Rain or Shine)	October 3 (vs. Meralco)	12–4

References

1. Ganglani, Naveen (August 7, 2015). "Jimmy Alapag to come out of retirement, will join Meralco after trade". rappler.com. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
2. PBA OKs Jay Washington-Denok Miranda swap by Talk 'N Text, GlobalPort, interaksyon.com, August 24, 2015
3. TnT nets Rosario in 3-team trade; SMB acquires Heruela, philstar.ph, August 25, 2015.
4. Talk 'N Text acquires Dylan Ababou from Barako in exchange for future second-round pick Karlo Sacamos, spin.ph, October 8, 2015
5. Talk ’N Text return for former NBA player Ivan Johnson still in play, Naveen Ganglani, Rappler, December 29, 2015
6. TNT taps David Simon as banned Johnson's replacement, Marisse Panaligan, GMA News Online, February 19, 2016
7. Sacamos, Karlo (August 12, 2016). "Unbeaten TNT defends signing of Mychal Ammons, says it needs a 'big' after Marcus Little". spin.ph. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
8. Leongson, Randolph B. (June 13, 2016). "Maxiell, Madanly beef up TNT". Inquirer.net. Retrieved June 13, 2016.