Jayson Castro tipped his hat to CJ Perez after the rookie balled out in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup meeting between the TNT KaTropa and Columbian Dyip, Saturday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Dyip eventually lost, 120-125. Still, there’s no denying that Perez gave the KaTropa problems — especially in the deciding quarter, where he scored 13 of his 23 points in the match.
Perez even made a triple with less than a minute to play to lift his side to within just three points, 120-123. Unfortunately, a slew of misfortunes then got in Columbian’s way, costing them the game.
The fancied Lyceum product also collected seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 43 minutes.
“Sobrang galing,” praised Castro moments after the pulsating victory. “Both on offense and defense, makikita mo talaga na kayang-kaya niya gawin. Sobrang easy sa kaniya.
“Lalo na yung transition game niya, sobrang hirap i-stop kasi kapag umatake, mahirapan ka na i-stop siya.”
But there was one instance where Castro showed Perez why he’s called the Blur. The 33-year-old converted an and-one play with 3:23 left in the fourth, which he did after driving past Perez.
But the two-time Asia’s best point guard — who finished with 25 points, six assists, and two rebounds — downplayed the move.
“Hindi naman, kasi yun nga, magaling din siyang dumepensa. Alam niya yung weakness ko tsaka strength ko rin. Noong huli siguro, nakaisa lang ako talaga sa kanya,” he said.
The KaTropa have extended their unbeaten run to four games following the win. But for Castro, they still need to do more work, especially on defense, as they allowed the opposition to score that much.
That was also the issue in their 123-118 win over Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters last Wednesday.
“Two games na kaming sobrang… Hindi ganoon kaganda yung defense namin kasi taas ng binibigay na score namin. Kailangan namin mag-adjust pa sa defense namin,” said Castro.
“Sa offense, wala namang problema, kaya naman naming umiscore. Defense, may mga kaunting adjustments.”
