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    Cold-blooded Castro no longer surprises Tropang Giga

    The Tropang Giga have seen it countless times
    Aug 22, 2022
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    The Tropang Giga have seen it countless times.

    IT didn’t come as a surprise TNT pulled off another game-winning play with the outcome of the match on the line.

    Practice as they say, makes perfect.

    Jayson Castro drilled a clutch basket at the buzzer as the Tropang Giga escaped with a thrilling 86-84 victory over San Miguel in the opener of their PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

    See: Jayson Castro resurgence can't convince him to reconsider Gilas retirement

    The veteran point guard only had 1.6 seconds in his hands to make the play happen, which he perfectly executed by sinking the pull-up jumper against Simon Enciso at endgame, sending the Tropang Giga fans in a frenzy at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

    That Castro – or any other player for that matter – was able to perform the play as the team called it no longer came a surprise for coach Chot Reyes.

    He had seen the scenario a lot of times which TNT regularly does in its daily practices.

    “This is something we practice all the time (in our practices) and all the players know that,” Reyes said afterwards.

    Initially, Reyes called his final timeout with three seconds to go and the game tied at 84-all.

    But after San Miguel utilized its last foul to stop the clock, the Tropang Giga knew exactly what to do under that crucial situation with time down to 1.6 seconds.

    Jayson Castro

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    “There were some misdirection and there were two options,” he said. “And they key was No. 1, you got to be open. And no. 2, with 1.6 (seconds) you have one more dribble (to make).”

    While the Tropang Giga were doing those kind of endgame situations in practices, Reyes didn’t lose time to likewise give credit to the five TNT players who were on the floor and forced San Miguel to commit a 24-second shotclock violation prior to Castro’s heroics.

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      With two timeouts left and in possession with 28 seconds to go, the Beermen opted not to use any of their two timeouts and went to June Mar Fajardo for an isolation at the post.

      But the six-time MVP found himself too far away from the basket, and the Tropang Giga threw a double team on him.

      Fajardo appeared tentative as the shotclock was winding down, before deciding to pass the ball at the last minute to CJ Perez, who was eventually caught with the shotclock violation for an automatic turnover.

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      “The key was the stop we made in the previous possession when we forced San Miguel in a 24-second violation. I think that was the key,” Reyes pointed out.

      “While Jayson made the game winner, it was the team inside who defended and forced them into a shotclock violation, I think deserves the credit as well,” added Reyes.

      “But in the end, its great Jayson made the shot. But the better thing is we gave ourselves the chance. We gave ourselves a crack.”

      And given that opportunity, the Tropang Giga know what exactly they have to do.

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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      The Tropang Giga have seen it countless times.
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