Talk N’ Text’s Jayson Castro biggest thorn in Rain or Shine’s side
Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao admitted that stopping Talk ‘N Text’s Jayson Castro will be the Elasto Painters’ main concern heading into their best-of-seven championship showdown.
Guiao saw how Castro proved to be a force to reckon with in the Tropang Texters’ disposal of defending champion Purefoods in the semifinals.
“Jayson Castro is shooting the 3 really well and they put a lot of defenders on him. Lahat na ng guardya ng Purefoods ginamit na kanya. Yung security guard na lang ng Araneta ang hindi ginamit sa kanya kaya hindi na namin alam kung paano dedepensahan yan,” said Guiao.
Actually, Purefoods even tried putting arguably the best defender in the league today Marc Pingris on the cat-quick Castro late in games but to no avail.
Castro’s numbers in four games during the semifinals were astounding as he averaged 25 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6 assists per game while shooting a jaw-dropping 57% from the field and 54% from the 3-point area.
“Talagang magaling si Jayson. Talagang nag-init siya nung fourth quarter. Yung plano talaga namin sa kanya is mag-switch dapat tapos patirahin sa labas instead na mag-drive pero talaga shumu-shoot,” said Pingris, who was left in awe on Castro’s 33-point performance in Game 4 that booted Purefoods out.
Normally, the key to defending Castro is to keep him from attacking the basket and make him shoot from outside. But the 28-year-old has been invincible as of late, at least heading into Game 1 of the Finals on Wednesday, after shooting a combined 14-of-19 from deep in his last two games including a nearly flawless performance in Game 3, where he made seven out of his eight attempts from that area.
READ: Castro leads Talk ‘N Text past Purefoods anew and into finals
The way Castro has been playing, Painters guard Paul Lee thinks it’s safe to say his counterpart is just “unstoppable.”
“Hindi mo naman siya maii-stop kahit i-slow down mo lang siya siguro malaking bagay na yon,” said Lee, who is in a tight race with Castro for the Best Player of the Conference award.
READ: Spotlight falls on Castro, Lee as PBA finals between Rain or Shine, Talk N’ Text begin
Castro, too, has high praise for Lee ahead of the two stars’ looming duel.
“Sobrang ganda ng nilalaro niya. Paul Lee is Paul Lee. Alam naman natin yon every game nakaka-iskor siya ng ganon even noong rookie pa siya,” Castro said of Lee’s semis showing where he led the Painters’ sweep of the Meralco Bolts.
“Kahit sino naman sa amin deserving [for BPC] especially Paul Lee kasi nadadala niya yung team niya.” CC
