Terrence Romeo struggled to find his groove during his debut with the TNT Katropa. Once he was able to do so, a bevy of errors followed.
With 4:15 left in the game, the sensational scorer knocked down back-to-back baskets. What followed though was a three straight turnovers.
And he could not hide his frustration about it.
“Yung mga double-dribble violation ko, siguro may nakikita yung referee na talagang nakikita niya siguro yung mga galing sa ibang planeta. Hindi ko alam kung ano,” the five-year pro quipped. “Next time, mag-aadjust ako pero hindi ko talaga alam kung saan planeta siya nag-referee before. Wala kong magagawa.
“Pero di bale, mag-aadjust ako at papasyal ako sa planeta na iyon.”
The three-time scoring champion finished the game with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting and five turnovers. Still, he was in high spirits to have his new team come out with a 128-114 win.
“Masaya. Sobrang saya. Kakaiba yung atmosphere sa bago kong team. Tuwang-tuwa ako na part na ako ng TNT,” expressed the 26-year-old scorer, who is playing in just his third game this season. “Lahat nagtutulungan, lahat nang-aangat. Kapag may nado-down, nandiyan yung kapwa ko teammates para i-cheer up ka and di mo na kailangan mag-isip ng marami sa game dahil lahat ng teammate mo magagaling.
“So, sobrang saya ko.”
Uplifting him during his struggles during the contest was none other than two-time Finals Most Valuable Player and Gilas Pilipinas brother Jayson Castro.
All throughout the game, Castro would go over Romeo to check how he is doing when they were on the bench. And this is how Castro is paying it forward as Jimmy Alapag did the same thing to him early in his career.
“If we’re talking about Terrence, I think what’s key now is Jayson’s guidance,” disclosed TNT head coach Nash Racela. “Si Jayson has been really embracing that role of guiding the other players, the younger players, and really leading them. He makes the point to talk to them, at least every day I see him in practice really talking to the players.
“How Jimmy guided him when he was starting out in the PBA, I think that’s exactly the role of Jayson now for his teammates.”
And Romeo could not help but be grateful to have Castro help in easing his transition to his new role.
“Malaki. Tulad nung kanina, nandiyan si Kuya Jayson para tulungan ako at yung team. Si Kuya Jayson kasi sobrang matured na at napagdaanan na niya yung lahat. So, dami ko pa dapat matutunan sa kanya,” beamed Romeo.
“Ako naman, hindi ako magsasawa sa pakikinig sa kanya. Nagtatanong din ako pag may kailangan ako malaman.”
