Jason Castro points to TNT weakness
MANILA, Philippines — Their comeback bid not consummated in Game 4, TNT skipper Jayson Castro said the KaTropa shouldn’t let themselves to be on the backfoot all the time and needing to rally heading home to pull it off against PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals rival San Miguel Beer.
The KaTropa trailed by 15 and tried to weave their chasedown magic again but fell short this time, 101-106, allowing the embattled Beermen to tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
“Sa start ng third ang sama ng execution namin. Ang laki na naman ng hinahabol namin (We had a sloppy execution at the start of the third quarter and we had a big deficit to overcome),” said Castro.
“For us to win, dapat hindi kami naghahabol, dapat andun lang kami (we can’t always be the ones trying to catch up and we must keep it close),” said the 33-year-old playmaker, whose crowning as Best Player of the Conference Sunday night was spoiled by the Beermen’s tying win.
Except in Game 1 where they romped off with a comprehensive109-96 triumph, the KaTropa faced huge deficits throughout the series.
In Game 2, Castro and Co. came back from 17 points down before eventually conceding a 125-127 double-overtime setback. They were successful in wiping out another 17-point disadvantage in Game 3, using a huge 24-0 burst to turn things around for a 115-105 verdict.
Last Sunday, TNT’s fightback didn’t get its intended result, giving SMB a new lease on life and equal chances for the diadem.
“Buti nakuha namin ang panalong ito. Mahirap kasing mabaon sa 1-3 (Good thing, we won Game 4. It would have been difficult if we faced a 1-3 deficit),” said San Miguel behemoth June Mar Fajardo, who dropped 22 points in the equalizer.
With this showdown reduced to a race to two wins, the mind games and physicality between SMB’s defenders and TNT’s super import Terrence Jones is expected to intensify some more.
In the fourth game, Arwind Santos had a run-in with the newly-minted Best Import awardee, who shouted, “What?!” at the SMB veteran before flashing a smile.
“Part lang ng game yun (Its part of the game),” said Santos, who even made a joke out of the incident. “Pinaamoy niya lang nya yung hininga niya sa akin. Amoy Amerikano, amoy burger. Sanay na ako doon, ganon talaga, minsan pag nagkakainitan. Gulatan lang kung sino masisindak (He just made me smell his breath, which smells American, smells of burger. But I’m used to that – whoever blinks first).”
Santos admitted it was hard ruining Jones’ game.
“Ano rin siya, umiiwas rin siya sa taunting, saka nung tinginan nang mata sa mata. Ayaw din niya eh. Marunong din. Kapag may ganoong scenario sinasamantala namin, tignan namin kung sino mapipikon (He knows how to deal with it. He avoids taunting and staredowns. If there’s a scenario like that, we take advantage of it to see if we can get his goat),” said the veteran forward.
Christian Standhardinger and Kelly Nabong also had a heated moment with Jones, sandwiching the TNT import, who shoved them both out of his way near the SMB bench during a timeout.
Notes: Game 4 drew a crowd of 13,578 at the Big Dome. This was the largest crowd in this year’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup and also the biggest without Barangay Ginebra since Game 7 of the 2016 Philippine Cup finals between San Miguel and Alaska at MOA Arena.