Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams remain defiant
On Wednesday night’s 111-98 drubbing of the San Miguel Beermen to TNT Katropa in Game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinal series, it was TNT’s lapses on defense that paved the way for an SMB victory.
And nobody can attest to that strongly other than Katropa veterans Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams, who both served as the lifelines of TNT in the 13-point loss that took place inside the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Castro and Williams, who both combined for 51 markers to anchor TNT’s offense, both claimed that the Katropa’s defensive lapses against the wily Beermen proved to be the turning point of the opening series loss.
“Game of adjustment naman ‘tong series na ‘to so kailangan namin mag-adjust doon sa mga scheme ng defense namin. At the same time, cumonnect yung outside shots nila, which is yung binibigay namin sa kanila,” rued the 30-year-old point guard.
“We got a lot of defensive lapses. They played incredible. We just gotta make sure to fix the lapses that we had and come a bit focused [on Game 2],” furthered the veteran 6’6″ forward.
With TNT’s breakdown on defense, SMB then delivered game-changing blows on offense. The Beermen converted a whopping 41-of-73 from the field en route to a 56 percent shooting clip — with 16-of-26 coming from rainbow country.
Aside from failing to stop SMB’s hot shooting, TNT also missed out significantly in playing the passing lanes. As a result, San Miguel dished out a total of 24 assists — 10 of those coming from feisty guard Chris Ross.
Another problem for TNT, Castro lamented, is how to stop San Miguel’s behemoth June Mar Fajardo, who scored 21 points on an impressive 10-of-14 shooting, with most of it coming from inside the paint.
“Kailangan namin siyang (June Mar) tanggalin sa paint. Kasi every time na nakukuha niya [yung bola] sa paint, easy two points eh,” Castro lamented.
But despite all of those facets that they got beaten up, the two mainstays still remain upbeat and confident with the Katropa as Game 2 comes along this coming Friday, February 10.
“Okay pa naman kami. We’re [still] confident,” said Castro.
“We’re focused on the fact that it’s a series, and we’re looking forward to the next game. We have small adjustments to make, and we’re confident about going into Game 2,” added Williams.
