It has been four years since Chinese-Taipei defeated the Philippines in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship here in Manila. But the stinging memories of that loss still linger for national team veteran Jayson Castro.
The 31-year-old point guard had been part of that SMART Gilas team that absorbed an 84-79 loss to the Lin Chih Chieh-powered Taiwanese side — a loss that took place because of the Filipino cagers’ failure to protect a 13-point cushion.
It is mistakes like that that “The Blur” hopes not to witness again, as SMART Gilas and Chinese-Taipei will cross paths once more, this time in the second game of the FIBA World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, again in Manila.
“Natalo na tayo before ng Chinese-Taipei eh. Magandang example na yung nangyaring yun dati, so dapat ngayon ‘di na maulit,” pointed out the two-time FIBA Asia silver medalist, Sunday night after Gilas’ practice at the Meralco Gym.
Both teams will head into Monday night’s bout bringing different results from their games last Friday. SMART Gilas is coming off a 77-71 victory over Japan, while Chinese-Taipei is reeling from a 104-66 loss to Australia.
That six-point margin could’ve been a much bigger gap had the Filipinos not allowed the Japanese to catch up and take the lead in the second half. But the TNT Katropa star believes that it won’t happen again versus the Taiwanese.
“First game pa lang naman tsaka kulang yung preparations. After siguro ng first game na yun, maganda na yung lalaruin namin,” said the pride of Pampanga, who starred that Friday night with 20 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
Furthermore, Castro is hoping that he and the team will regain their shooting rhythm after they made just 38 percent of their shots against Japan.
“Madami naman kaming open shots [last game] kaso ‘di lang pumapasok,” he rued.
“Hopefully pumasok na [mga tira namin] kasi homecourt natin.”
The Philippines-Chinese-Taipei clash will happen on Monday evening at the historic SMART Araneta Coliseum.
