ANTIPOLO – Jayson Castro is glad that TNT Katropa is piling up wins this early in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup to hopefully avoid going through the playoffs the hard way like what happened to the team in the last Philippine Cup.
The Texters lost two of their first three games of the all-Filipino conference and finished the eliminations below .500 at 5-6, needing to go through a playoff against Phoenix to catch the last bus to the postseason where they lost to top seed San Miguel Beer.
TNT was just one win away in the regular season from securing a best-of-three quarterfinal series.
But now, the Texters have won their first two games, the latest a 106-98 decision against Phoenix on Saturday to take the early lead in the standings.
“Yun naman yung goal namin ngayon na yung alam namin na kaya naming talunin, dapat talunin namin unlike yung nangyari sa All-Filipino, masyado kaming relaxed and then noong kailangan na naming manalo, parang hirap na,” Castro said.
“So this time parang every game sa amin (importante) talaga,” he added.
Castro has been a huge part of the Texters’ early success, embracing his sixth man role and tallying 18 points, seven assists, five rebounds, one steal, and one block in 23 minutes to contribute in the balanced offensive effort.
But The Blur insisted they still have plenty to work on.
“Maganda para sa amin pero marami pa kaming kailangang i-adjust,” Castro said. “At the same time, medyo nagkakapaan pa pero nakuha na namin...yun nga, yung chemistry namin nandoon na pero siguro mga ilang games pa, magiging smooth na.”
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