Nambatac to tackle the role of injured Castro in the Finals
WITHOUT influential leader Jayson Castro, a bigger responsibility falls on the shoulders of Rey Nambatac as TNT battles powered-up Barangay Ginebra for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown.
But Mr. Nambatac, who’s only on his second conference with the Tropang Giga, expressed readiness to tackle the role — with major help from his teammates.
“Coach Chot (Reyes) told me I don’t need to totally fill in the void left by Kuya Jayson (Castro) because nobody can really do that. It would take a total team effort,” said Mr. Nambatac, TNT’s pre-season acquisition who won his first PBA title in the season-opening Governors’ Cup.
“If I can contribute at least 10 or 12 points out of Kuya Jayson’s 20 per game in the playoffs, it would be a big help to the team; we’ll then fill up the remaining 10 collectively,” he added.
Mr. Castro, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in Game 2 the semifinal series against Rain or Shine, was the Finals MVP when the Tropang Giga retained the Governors’ Cup title at the expense of the Gin Kings last November, 4-2. He would surely be missed in the best-of-seven Last Dance that begins on Friday.
“Very, very difficult (without Mr. Castro). Jayson is much more than just the skills he brings to the table. It’s a lot of other things — leadership, maturity, reading the game — so in the finals those are critical elements,” said Mr. Reyes.
“But we just have to not worry about who’s not here and just fight with who is here and what we have. Right now, we really have no choice but to go out there and give it our best and we’ll just see what happens.”
While TNT will wade into the finals rematch without a marquee player, rival Ginebra will have three additional ammo: Jamie Malonzo and Jeremiah Gray, who are both back from injuries, and former Tropang Giga big Troy Rosario, who came on board mid-season.
“We’ve been getting a lot better as a team, the chemistry has been getting better and with Jamie (Malonzo) back, Jeremiah (Gray)back and Troy (Rosario), we got him in this conference, hopefully that can be an edge,” said Ginebra import Justin Brownlee, who’s out to break through after going 0-2 against TNT counterpart Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in PBA title duels.
“It’s going to be a hard-fought series and any edge we can have or we can get, we’re definitely going to try to take advantage of it.” — Olmin Leyba
