MANILA, Philippines — TNT point guard Jayson Castro could only lament the lost opportunity for himself and his teammates after the KaTropa bowed out of the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs with a loss to San Miguel Beer in the semifinals.
With Castro sitting in the stands, the Beermen came away with a 96-83 victory over the KaTropa to advance to the finals. "The Blur" missed the game due to a hamstring injury he suffered in Game 6, a 104-88 TNT loss that allowed SMB to force the deciding game.
"Oo (nakakapanghinayang), kasi malaki 'yung chance namin," Castro said after the game.
(We had a great chance to win Game 6, but what happened was something beyond our control. There's nobody to blame. We're athletes, we're not superhuman. Injuries are something you can't avoid.)
What makes their elimination more painful is that they had a chance to close out the series in Game 6, in which they led 53-45 at the half. But SMB turned things around in the second half, outscoring the KaTropa 59-35. Castro suffered the hamstring injury in the fourth quarter.
"Sayang 'yung start ng third quarter ng Game 6," he said. "Up by eight kami, tapos biglang ganoon."
(We were up by eight at the start of the third quarter of Game 6, then it was gone just like that.)
Had the KaTropa held on to win Game 6, Castro would have been available to play by Game 2 or 3 of the finals, as he needs only a week to recuperate, according to TNT coach Nash Racela.
"Sayang si Jayson," sighed Racela after the game. "One week lang dapat, so kung pumasok kami sa finals, makakalaro sana siya sa Game 2 or 3."
However, without their primary playmaker, it was simply too difficult to counter the Beermen's weapons in the do-or-die game.
"It could have been a different story (in Game 7) if Jayson played," Racela noted. "We just tried to play our cards correctly, but it didn't work. Obviously, we missed Jayson, but we don't want to take anything from the San Miguel win. They did their part also."
The Beermen said after Game 7 that they did not at all discuss Castro's injury ahead of the contest, for fear it might lead them to complacency. Yet they also acknowledged that it was a point in their favor. After all, TNT lost its leading scorer and primary playmaker in Castro, who normed 16.3 points and eight assists in the first six games.
"Tonight, they didn't have Castro, and that's a big factor for us," said SMB coach Leo Austria.
Arwind Santos agreed: "Alam naman natin na si Jayson ay scorer, creator sa kanila, maliban sa barometer nila. Malaking bagay talaga, kasi halos siya yung nahihirapang bantayan ng mga teammates ko."
(We know Jayson's a scorer, a guy who creates for them. It's a huge factor for sure, because he's the guy who's been giving our defenders a lot of headaches.)
Castro hopes that TNT will take something away from their painful semifinals loss.
"Ang pinaka-importanteng lesson para sa amin, matuto kami kung paano mag-close out ng series," he said, again referring to the lead they squandered in Game 6. " 'Yun ang malaking lesson sa amin, para pagdating sa susunod na playoffs, handa na kami."
(The biggest takeaway here is we need to learn to close out a series. If we learn from our mistakes, come the next playoffs, we'll be ready.)
Castro, as well as the rest of the team, will take some time off to rest and recover, but he vows that he will be ready for the Commissioner's Cup.
"Within two weeks, mag-start na ako mag-rehab para sa next conference," he said.
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