Still hurting, Jayson Castro struggled to get his flow going Sunday evening when SMART Gilas Pilipinas took on Japan. The best point guard in Asia only attempted one shot in the first half, playing just six minutes.
“Almost one week akong walang basketball din eh, totally rest lang ‘yung mga couple of days. Sa Australia din ako nag-start mag-rehab, mga light work out lang. And then, last night lang ‘yun, nag-scrimmage ako,” shared the two-time All-FIBA team member.
“Pero ‘yun nga, sabi ko naman, ready ako just in case na gamitin ako.”
Castro was finally able to get on the board during the final moments of the third frame, knocking down back-to-back triples that gave Gilas a 70-57 edge and fire up the home crowd.
But that was just the set-up to his end game heroics.
Behind Daiki Tanaka and Makoto Hiejima, Japan went on a furious late game rally, cutting the lead down to just two 86-84 with 31.5 ticks left.
After a timeout, Castro was with Kiefer Ravena, Andray Blatche, June Mar Fajardo, and Gabe Norwood. Blatche had 18 points by then, Ravena had 13, Norwood had eight, and Fajardo had seven markers. But Castro took it upon himself to nail the dagger.
The 5-foot-10 floor general called for an isolation then drove to the lane and threw a contested, push shot over his defender to break the hearts of Japan once more.
“Siguro as a veteran, ‘yung mga ganoong responsibility kailangan kong kunin.
“Kasi ‘yun nga, nakita ko naman na may advantage ako and then parang ‘yung mga moment na ganoon, kapag beterano ka, dapat ikaw ‘yung umano, ‘di ba? So miss or make, ‘yun nga, matira lang namin. ‘Yun lucky lang na na-shoot,” shared Castro, who finished the game with eight points — down from the 20.0 points he averaged during the first two games.
Even with the next generation waiting on the wings, Castro showed why he is still the leader of this generation.
