By REYNALD MAGALLON
What a great luxury for TNT head coach Chot Reyes to have a guy like Jayson Castro.
When the game is on the line, the veteran coach can always count on Castro.
Known as ‘The Blur,’ Castro once again lived up to his go-to-guy role, coming through with a buzzer-beating basket to lift the Tropang Giga to an 86-84 win over San Miguel Beer in Game 1 of the PBA Finals.
His dramatic basket was the latest to his array of heroic acts since his celebrated amateur days with Rep. Mikee Romero’s team in the defunct Philippine Basketball League (PBL) more than a decade ago.
That gem of a play flooded the internet space with various reactions ˗ some of which sparked debate whether that final basket that put a dramatic ending to the series opener should be counted.
For Castro, there was no doubt he got it off on time.
“Sa akin naman, alam ko naman na natira ko siya before mag-buzzer,” said Castro moments after the game. “Nasa referee naman ‘yung kung anong nakita nila e.”
Replays showed the ball still in Castro’s hands when the game clock hits 0:00. In the next frame, when the LED in the backboard lit up bright red, the ball had already left Castro’s hands ˗ a fact that became the bone of contention why the referees counted the last gasp jumper.
“0:00.0 doesn’t mean there’s really no more time left. It could still mean 0:00.01 or 0:00.001. That’s why many leagues, even the NBA, follow the red LED lights around the backboard which when it turns on means there is really no more time left,” tweeted PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon.
That was also reminiscent to the dagger trey he also drilled during Game 4 of its semifinals against Magnolia. Just like that time, Castro played down his heroics.
“Napapasakto lang, tsaka ‘yung confidence ng team at ng coaches siguro. Kailangan ko lang itira kasi ‘yun nga, napunta sa’kin ‘yung bola,” said Castro who finished with 15 points in 22 minutes of play.
