Terrence Jones kicks it up a notch in Jayson Castro’s absence for TNT

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Terrence Jones has been nothing short of spectacular for TNT in the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup, but with Jayson Castro out on Saturday, the prolific import knew he needed to take his game to an even higher level.

That’s exactly what he did.

Jones delivered his most scintillating game yet with 49 points that went with 18 rebounds to power the league-leading KaTropa over the Meralco Bolts.

“They didn’t double team as much and I knew we were short of Jayson, who’s an aggressive player for us, that playmaker,” Jones said.

“I knew I was gonna have to be a little more aggressive today to try and pick up what he would bring to our team. My team believed in me and I just wanted to be aggressive and do all I could.”

Jones set the tone for TNT with 23 first-half points but he saved his best for last, unleashing 18 straight points to start the final frame and break the game wide open.

“He has the talent. He is good, there’s no question about that. He’s a good player. He’s probably the best import here right now, and he should be,” said Meralco coach Norman Black, a two-time PBA Best Import.

“He’s not just done it here in the Philippines, he’s done it the United States, in the NBA. You know he’s a really good player. I thought he dominated the game,” Black added.

Much of the KaTropa’s success in the conference where they’ve won six of their first seven games so far is due in large part to the brilliance and dominance of Jones.

But the the former NBA veteran also made sure to give his teammates credit for the team’s rousing start.

“I think we’re doing a great job of playing defense and it’s getting us easy points. And our shooters, different guys have been stepping up you know and they’ve just been playing very well,” he said.

“Ryan (Reyes) had a great game tonight, Roger (Pogoy) has been playing very well, and even Don (Trollano) brought us great game tonight. So it’s just been a lot of guys coming in the game and ready to play. It’s been just a lot of great play by everybody.”

“I think as a team, that’s what you want, you want different guys to step up so we could keep that energy. Nobody on our team is selfish, we’re trying to find the open guy and it’s just showing in our play.”