Oct 22, 2021

Castro seeks to complete unfinished business in PH Cup finals

UNLIKE last year, Jayson Castro is playing in full strength in the PBA Philippine Cup finals.

The veteran TnT Tropang Giga guard made sure he'll be healthy this season and help the team complete its unfinished business in the Clark bubble last year when it lost out to Barangay Ginebra in the title series of this same conference.

Castro, 35, was hobbled by injuries on both knees during the finals that made him missed the series-clinching Game 5.

In the off-season, he underwent procedures to remove bone spurs on both knees and returned in the pink of health ready for the league's 46th season.

"OK naman, healthy naman. Magandang lesson yung nangyari sa akin last bubble," said Castro.

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"After nung last season, nag-ready talaga ako for this conference. And na-feel ko na mas ok yung katawan ko ngayon."

It did Castro good TnT got the services of rookie guard Mikey Williams, and then added free agents Brian Heruela and Ping Exciminiano to complement him and improving sophomore Kib Montalbo at the backcourt.

With more reliable relievers to surround him, Castro didn't really play heavy minutes under comebacking coach Chot Reyes.

"Yung rotation ni coach, ganun talaga siya. Kung mapapansin ninyo, yung minutes namin hindi ganoon kataas para lahat kami fresh," Castro noted.

Proof of that was Game 1 of the finals against Magnolia when Castro just saw action for 19 minutes and didn't do a lot of scoring as the other TnT backcourt players took care of business in an 88-70 blowout win.

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Williams finished with a game-high 21 points on 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range, while Montalbo added seven, two rebounds, and two assists as part of TnT's starting unit.

"So isa sa magandang nangyari sa amin yun," added Castro of the plenty of help he's getting from fellow TnT guards. (RG)