Don Trollano was so irritated by SAN Miguel Beer’s most recent game that he vowed it would never happen again. Once more.

The 33-year-old, who was held scoreless and mostly held responsible for the Beermen’s defeat to TNT in the previous game, recovered with 21 points to help SMB defeat Phoenix 111-92 in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup.

Trollano scored five points in four minutes throughout the first quarter, demonstrating his aggressiveness right away. With his greatest performance of the conference, he led the Beermen to victory in the second quarter, which culminated in a rout of 34-21.

“Just play hard. Kailangan naming mag-step up kapag nag-struggle ‘yung first group. Ang mindset is just to win. We can’t afford to lose back-to-back games, kasi ‘yung standings, dikit-dikit,” Trollano, who scores 13 points a game on average, stated.

Regarding his match against TNT, Trollano stated that he was unable to comprehend what went wrong.

“Hindi ko rin alam eh. Siguro I’m not playing hard. That’s it,” Trollano said.  “Bad game ako last game so sobrang eager ako to bounce back ngayong game na ‘to. Nakuha ko naman.” 

After only scoring six points against TNT, the rest of the SMB bench scored 46 points against Phoenix, a result of Trollano’s redemption game.

“I think it’s very obvious na from six points to 46 points, that’s a lot. Usually, we are relying on our bench because our bench can be starters, but they have to know na every player is very important.”

Trollano stated that defense was a major factor in the victory as well.

Meanwhile, after his current contract expires at the end of Season 49 of the PBA, Arvin Tolentino acknowledged that he will take offers to play abroad into consideration.

Tolentino didn’t really get the chance to grow until he and Prince Caperal arrived at Northport in a deal for former No. 2 overall choice Jamie Malonzo, despite the fact that he displayed glimpses of his talent while playing on Ginebra’s bench.

After Robert Bolick left the Batang Pier, Tolentino took over as their star player and eventually guided the team to their first post-pandemic semifinal participation in the Commissioner’s Cup midseason.

He won his first-ever Best Player of the Conference title in the same tournament, a performance that clearly caught the attention of international teams, particularly those in the Korean Basketball League.

However, Tolentino’s name has also surfaced in a number of speculated deals involving San Miguel, Magnolia, and even Ginebra, where he was taken with the 10th overall pick in the 2019 draft and went on to win two titles with the team.

He said he was open to all alternatives after his contract with the Batang Pier officially ends at the end of the season. He was a member of the Gilas Pilipinas team that won a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Although Tolentino’s contract was set to expire at the end of April, league regulations permit players whose contracts are about to expire to have them automatically extended until the end of the current season.