For Jayson Castro, he and the TNT KaTropa had never expected to be in such a bad position this early in the season-ending Governors’ Cup.
The Texters are now 1-3 in the conference after absorbing a 96-125 beatdown at the hands of a hot-shoooting Simon Enciso and a near-perfect Alaska Aces, Sunday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Sobrang hindi. Kasi yung expectations namin this coming conference, mataas,” admitted 10-year pro Castro.
Both Castro and his teammates’ morale had actually been high heading into the tilt, as they were coming off a good run in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup. They may have lost to the San Miguel Beer in the quarters, but they had gone 8-3 in the elims.
“8-3 I think nung eliminations so going into this conference, sabi namin yung expectations namin makaabot kami ng semis and then, sabi rin namin, let’s see kung kaya hanggang Finals,” recalled one of the KaTropa’s leaders.
This time around is rather different than what they’d envisioned. After Sunday, the KaTropa are down to the seventh spot of the team standings. Given that, concerns have definitely arisen within the TNT camp.
“Pero yung start namin ngayon, 1-3 parang ang hirap. Ang hirap makaahon kasi alam naman natin every game counts dito sa elimination,” Castro pointed out.
It speaks volumes of their struggles that they are the first team this conference to switch imports, from Mike Glover to Stacy Davis. But for Castro, the problem doesn’t lie with whoever their import is, but with the locals.
“Nanalo kami na walang import then may import, parang yung energy namin, parang ganun diba, dalawang games na sunod so siguro hindi na yung import eh. Yung locals talaga – kami. Hindi na import yung problema namin.”
