TNT Tropang Giga gun for 2-0 advantage in PBA Governors’ Cup Finals

Game on Wednesday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m. – Barangay Ginebra vs TNT (Finals Game 2)*
*TNT leads best-of-seven series, 1-0

AMID all the hoopla about the great coaches, imports and finals debutants bannering TNT and Barangay Ginebra, Tropang Giga veteran Jayson Castro issued a strong reminder that he’s still a major force in this dream finale.

Mr. Castro, 38, poured in 12 of his 14 in the third quarter to help the Tropang Giga create separation from Ginebra, 72-62, en route to their smashing 104-88 Game 1 romp in the PBA Governors’ Cup finals Sunday in front of a full house at Ynares Center in Antipolo.

It was vintage Mr. Castro on display as he virtually took his Ginebra defender, freshman sensation RJ Abarrientos, to school with his variety of moves in a crucial stretch.

Watch and learn, rookie.

Mr. Castro’s heroics in the third restored momentum for TNT after Ginebra cut its early 15-point spread to within manageable levels. From there, Rey Nambatac and the rest of the team took care of the mop-up operations to secure the 1-0 upperhand in the race-to-four showdown.

“As a veteran, his job is to stabilize and take advantage of opportunities,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes of the 16-year veteran, eight-time PBA champion and former Best Point Guard in Asia.

“Jayson (Castro) saw the opportunity in the third quarter. Credit his teammates for affording him, making sure that he gets into the right places.”

TNT used its stifling defense to shut down Ginebra to 16 points below its usual norm of 106.5 markers and a woeful 9.5% clip from three-point territory, way off its regular percentage of 37%.

“They took a lot of what we wanted to do away from us,” Ginebra mentor Tim Cone rued.

“We shot the ball poorly with two-for-21 from the three-point line. So it’s just one of those games. You hate to see how it happened in the first game of a championship series. They beat us up individually one-on-one and really embarrassed our defense.”

The Justin Brownlee-led Gin Kings have two days to plot a counter against the Rondae Hollis-Jefferson-headlined Tropang Giga, who will shoot for a pivotal 2-0 lead in Game 2 on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. — Olmin Leyba