Jayson Castro says it would take collective effort to beat SMB

JAYSON CASTRO’s close out performance against Barangay Ginebra was one of his best performances ever.

He poured in 38 points, the third highest in his career, while leading the KaTropa’s return to the championship round of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Champions of this tournament in 2015, the KaTropa needed one huge game from Mr. Castro in putting away the Gin Kings, but the veteran guard believes it would take the entire team to beat San Miguel, the most dominant team bannered by the most dominant player in June Mar Fajardo, the reigning threetime Most Valuable Player.

The Beermen have won the last three stagings of the Philippine Cup and with do-it-all import Charles Rhodes proving to be a good fit, the league’s winningest franchise remains to be the heavy favorite in the coming Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven finals series.

“Against San Miguel, I don’t think the match up is about Jayson Castro vs Chris Ross or Alex Cabagnot. Our mentality in TNT is about the team,” said Mr. Castro. “Coach Nash ( Racela) has reminded us that once we play as a team, good things happen. Even our ninth, 10th, 11th guy in our team, can contribute. To beat San Miguel, we need to get everybody involved — from our team captain Ranidel de Ocampo down to our 14th player in our roster.”

Mr. Castro has struggled in the first three games of the series against the Gin Kings, but just when the KaTropa was needed to close out the series in Game 4 to avoid a do- or- die match, he stepped up big time.

Mr. Racela said Mr. Castro’s performance is an indication of his maturity as a player.

“When Jayson was limited to a single digit, people talk about him not being effective,” said Mr. Racela. “But that’s Jayson. He finds ways to contribute. I was telling somebody that when you see Jayson’s number in terms of points go down, it just means his assist would go up, his rebounds would go up. That speaks of Jayson. I was telling you after Game 1 Jayson would explode. He didn’t get that in Game 2 and 3, but in Game 4, he did. Before the game, we told him that he has to be aggressive for at least for us to have a chance against Ginebra,” added Mr. Racela.

Mr. Castro said he prefers to get his teammates more involved and that’s what it takes in beating San Miguel.

“I just have to shoot with confidence. Those wide open shots I’ve been taking before, I just have to shoot it with confidence. In the first three games against Ginebra, I was looking for my teammates more and that’s what I have to do in the coming series against San Miguel. I just have to continue being aggressive and of course, set as good example for my younger teammates. As one of the veterans, I need to defend and hustle,” added Mr. Castro. —