Castro, De Ocampo pace top player race

TNT import Richard Howell holds on to San Mig counterpart James Mays during a rebound battle in last night’s game at the Big Dome. Game 1 of the title series was still being played at press time. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / NUKI SABIO

MANILA, Philippines — Saying the interest of the Talk ‘N Text team comes first more than anything else, Jason Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo are not about to go individualistic just to win the Best Player of the Conference award of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Locked in a tight race for the prestigious award after the Final Four, Castro and De Ocampo seem to be the only players capable of winning after June Mar Fajardo, Arwind Santos and Asi Taulava’s respective teams failed to reach the Finals.

“We don’t think about individual awards in this team,” De Ocampo told the Inquirer in Filipino. De Ocampo, despite all his accomplishments as a superstar power forward in the pro league, hasn’t won the BPC before.

“What’s important for us is to win the championship,” added the national team standout.

“Every time we play a tournament, individual awards are the last thing in our minds.”

Castro, who won his first and only BPC in last season’s Philippine Cup, led everyone in the statistical points race with an average of 30.4 points per game, with De Ocampo finishing second with 30.3.

Voting, which started Friday, will more or less determine the winner, with the PBA, the members of the PBA Press Corps and other media, and fellow players to cast their ballots.

The awards rite will be held before Game 3 on Tuesday, also at Smart Araneta Coliseum. Fajardo, who won the Philippine Cup BPC this season, was on target for another BPC award until San Miguel Beer tumbled out of the quarterfinals by losing two straight times to underdog Air21.

Fajardo, the 6-foot-10 cornerstone of the Beermen, was third in the SP race with 29.8.

And because the Express got booted out in five games by San Mig Coffee in the Final Four, Taulava, a former MVP who is the oldest player in the league at 41, also saw his aspirations go up in the air.

Taulava averaged 29.3 points, with Santos, also of San Miguel Beer and the reigning MVP, finishing fifth overall with an average of 29.1 SPs.

“It is all about the team for us here at Talk ‘N Text,” the fleet-footed Castro said in Filipino.

“The awards will come, especially if we win championships. Right now, our focus is on how to beat San Mig Coffee.”

The Tropang Texters and the Mixers were playing Game 1 of the race-to-three Finals at press time, with Talk ‘N Text seeking to become the first team in league history to win a conference title without a loss.

Talk ‘N Text came into the championship series with 13 consecutive victories.

The all-time record in a single conference is 19 straight, held by a Crispa Redmanizers team mentored by the legendary Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan.