ANGELES CITY - TnT Tropang Giga sat out top man Jayson Castro in its PBA Philippine Cup game against Blackwater on Thursday due to a calf injury.
Castro was a game time decision for the league leader, but the TnT coaching staff decided to sit him out at the last minute so as not to aggravate the tightness in his calf.
The veteran guard was in uniform, though, and joined the Tropang Giga at their bench.
Head coach Bong Ravena said the Tropang Giga already learned their lesson in the past that the team opted to just rest the 34-year-old guard during the game at the Angeles University Foundation gym.
"We need to rest him. Mahirap, we can't take the risk, baka ma-pulled pa or something. So sinigurado namin na hindi na muna siya palaruin," he said.
The experience the Tropang Giga earlier had with Roger Pogoy somehow also helped convince the coaching staff not to field in Castro.
Pogoy sprained his ankle in the team's win over defending champion San Miguel last week. Instead of taking him out, the Cebuano guard was kept in the game and in the process, aggravated the injury.
"We learned from that," said Ravena. "Itong kay Jayson ayaw na naming mangyari ulit. So we'd rather let him rest."
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