PBA stands by decision on Jayson Castro buzzer-beater

Jayson Castro’s buzzer beating game winner. –PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines–The PBA on Monday stood in its decision to count Jayson Castro’s last-gasp jumper that gave TNT an 86-84 win over San Miguel Beer in Game 1 of the Philippine Cup Finals amid continuing debate on social media.

Deputy commissioner Eric Castro told the Inquirer that the ruling was done in accordance with league guidelines and images from multiple angles provided by broadcast partner TV5.

“What we did was we did [was a] frame-by-frame, slow-motion review of the different angles that were provided by our TV partner, which is only the official means of determining shot situations like that,” he said.

Castro said he and the league are aware of the online talk as to whether the Tropang Giga veteran had gotten the shot off in mind, including viral pictures of the ball still in his hands when the clock read 0:00.0.

But a different frame from the same angle saw the TNT mainstay appearing to have barely released the ball out of his hands when the red light flashed from the backboard.

JAYSON CASTRO DOES IT AGAIN!

TNT takes Game 1 of the #PBAFinals! pic.twitter.com/UCINRR93fS

— PBA (@pbaconnect) August 21, 2022

“I know for a fact that there are a lot of things that are coming out on social media,” said Castro. “But I would like to reiterate that we do not base our review on still pictures.

“And then, it has been a PBA guideline that when the backboard is equipped with red lighting around its perimeter, the lighting takes precedence over the game clock sound,” he added.

Pressed as to why the game clock and the light were not in sync as the video suggested, Castro cited some factors, one particular being the possibility of a “human delay” aspect when the time button was pressed.

Castro said PBA rules state that: “If play is resumed by a throw-in from an out of bounds, the clock shall be started when the ball is legally touched by any player within the playing area of the court.”

The TNT cager got the ball off Ryan Reyes’ inbound with 1.6 seconds left, took two dribbles before hitting the shot against Simon Enciso that put his team ahead in the best-of-seven series.

It took minutes before officials awarded Castro the winning basket. Public opinion on the matter, though, may never end with a resolution.