Players to blame for TNT’s 1-3 start, says Castro

TNT has long been considered as one of the top echelon teams of the league but with the way things are going for the KaTropa, they are slowly veering away from that reputation.

The KaTropa are 1-3 at the start of the PBA Governors’ Cup after suffering a humiliating 125-96 loss to Alaska Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

For point guard Jayson Castro, the team needs to experience a change in whatever way necessary.

“Something needs to change in us, we have to change our mindset,” said Castro, who had 13 points and three assists, in Filipino. “This kind of slump is in us players and not on the coaches or whoever.”

“We’re the ones playing on the floor so there’s no one to blame but us.”

TNT’s 29-point loss to the Aces was its worst loss since it lost to Rain or Shine 105-73 in the 2017 Governors’ Cup.

Castro, who’s won six championships all with TNT, said the KaTropa lacked the energy to practically put up a good fight against the Aces.

Alaska ran off the gates and built a 35-13 lead after the first quarter off the back of Simon Enciso’s five three-pointers.

TNT never recovered and looked sluggish against the fast-paced attack of the Aces.

“We played really bad today and the energy wasn’t there even at the start of the game,” said Castro. “I never expected this from us because our expectations coming into the conference was we would be on a high position.”

“We’re at 1-3 and it seems hard to bounce back from this because every game counts here in the eliminations.”