Manila Bulletin

Castro: No doubt on winner

- By REYNALD MAGALLON

What a great luxury for TNT head coach Chot Reyes to have a guy like Jayson Castro when the game is on the line. For most of the time, "the Blur" never disappoint­s.

Seeming like a usual day in the office with no fancy celebratio­ns, the veteran guard just walked off and raised his two hands, still wearing the calm and composed demeanor as if it's a casual perimeter jumper.

But it was a game-winner at the buzzer that bailed TNT out against SMB, 86-84, in Game 1 of the P B A Finals.

The same couldn't be said, however, in social media where fans went frenzy and flooded the internet space with various reactions — some of which sparked debate whether that final basket that put a dramatic ending to the series opener should be counted.

For Castro, there was no doubt he got it off on time.

"Sa akin naman, alam ko naman na natira ko siya before mag-buzzer," said Castro moments after the game. "Nasa referee naman ‘yung kung anong nakita nila e.” Replays showed the ball still in Castro's hands when the game clock hits 0:00. In the next frame, when the LED in the backboard lit up bright red, the ball had already left Castro's hands — a fact that became the bone of contention why the referees counted the last gasp jumper. "0:00.0 doesn’t mean there’s really no more time left. It could still mean 0:00.01 or 0:00.001. That’s why many leagues, even the NBA, follow the red LED lights around the backboard, which, when it turns on, means there is really no more time left," tweeted PBA chief statistici­an Fidel Mangonon.

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