TNT will be going for a third title against Barangay Ginebra in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup finals, but the biggest difference in this series is that it won't have the luxury of having team leader Jayson Castro on the floor.
Game 1 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals will be on Friday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena
The 38-year-old TNT guard, one of the wiliest players in the PBA and earlier picked as one of the league's "Greatest," will miss the finals series and the rest of the season after he ruptured his right knee patellar tendon during his team's semifinals against Rain or Shine.
READ: Chot tells Nambatac - 'Don't be Castro clone, be the old Sting Rey'
To say it's a big blow is an understatement, but just to put the series in perspective, what TNT will be missing is the the Finals MVP during the last time the two teams met in a championship series, the 2024 PBA Governors’ Cup, which TNT won in six games.
TNT coach Chot Reyes said Castro’s absence will be huge for his team as the Tropa vie for another championship. But he is not giving up and is in fact optimistic that his team could still pull it off.
“I’ve said this before, I don’t think anyone can fill in the shoes of Jayson,” said Reyes on Monday during the pre-finals press conference at the Kamay Kainan in Quezon City.
“So we’re just asking all the other players to give a little bit more and try to contribute a little more than what they usually do so that we can all try and make up for Jayson’s loss. So that’s the best we can do, really, is to hope that the effort of the others is enough to cover for Jayson not being here with us.”
Reyes said the other players have been stepping up and they showed this new resolve during the semifinal series against Rain or Shine where the Tropang Giga closed out the Elasto Painters in five games without Castro.
“[We have] our ability to play at the high level without Jayson. He was the last finals MVP. So it’s like taking that piece away. It’s going to be a telling factor. Having said that, the other players that we have, we are not going to sell them short because they really showed in the last series how well they can play even without Jayson,” said Reyes.
“But I’d be lying if we don’t admit that it will be a big factor,” said Reyes, who will be aiming to win his 11th PBA crown.
TNT team governor Ricky Vargas said the absence of Castro makes his team the underdog in the series.
“You heard all the discussion. Definitely, we’re coming into this conference as underdogs. Man for man, no Jayson, improved chemistry of Ginebra. It’s actually a new team. It will be a big challenge, but it’s a challenge that we will face,” said Vargas, who also sits as PBA chairman.
Also adding to the potential woes for TNT will be the presence of former TNT player Troy Rosario and the return of Jamie Malonzo, who didn’t play in the previous finals series.
“Troy brings a lot more than just his skills and his talent, and his willingness to do whatever it takes. He’s a great teammate and there’s so many intangibles when you talk about Troy. He wasn’t there in our last finals, so that’s going to be a big factor. But so is Jamie. Jamie is going to be 100 percent right now. And that’s another factor that we have to contend with,” Reyes said.
“Really a tall order for us but these are the challenges that make any competition worthwhile, right? When you’re faced with very tall odds and still you find ways to at least compete and give ourselves a chance and I think that is our mentality going to this series,” the former Gilas coach also said.
Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone admitted that the presence of Rosario and Malonzo will bode well to their title chances and hopefully end their slump against TNT in the finals
“I think we’re coming into this series with a lot more depth than we had in the last time we played them, and I think that’s going to be a big factor for us, just the idea that we have a little bit more depth and length than we had in the last series we played,” said Cone.
Ginebra team governor Alfrancis Chua does not agree at all that TNT is the underdog saying that the Tropang Giga have the championship experience to overcome the Gin Kings.
“I think experience-wise, mas may experience sila. Mas mga beterano sila. Si Oftana, kunyari lang bata, matanda na ‘yan,” said the PBA vice chairman in jest.
“Experience-wise, pareho. Coaching, it’s nice to watch both of them,” Chua said.
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