MANILA, Philippines – Jayson Castro’s return from injury didn’t turn out that way he probably would have wanted to as the TNT KaTropa crashed to their sixth loss in 10 games of the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup.

After missing the last 3 games to remove bone spurs from his right foot, the do-it-all guard was expected to provide the boost the KaTropa needed to improve their chances of making it into the Final 8 and the quarterfinals. 

Instead, the Magnolia Hotshots spoiled Castro’s comeback with a 116-103 triumph on Friday, October 26. 

“Lahat na-outhustle, na-outrebound [nila kami]. At the same time, ‘yung outside shots nila, maganda. Kami, hindi kami makashoot,” he told reporters after the game. 

(They outhustled and outrebounded us. At the same time, their outside shots fell while our shots didn’t.) 

The KaTropa were beaten by 24 boards in the rebounding department and they surrendered 60 points in the paint and 27 second chance points. 

But if there is a silver lining in Castro’s return, it is that he felt no pain in the 32 minutes he saw action for TNT. 

He finished with 13 points on a 4-of-9 shooting to go with 5 assists, 1 rebound, 1 block and 1 steal. 

“As in totally, wala na siyang pain. May mga moves akong triny kanina, ‘di naman siya sumakit,” he said. 

(There is no pain at all. I tried different moves but I didn’t feel pain in my foot.) 

At 4-6, the KaTropa need to win their final elimination round game against Barangay Ginebra on November 4 at the Araneta Coliseum to bolster their bid for a playoffs berth. 

“I think may chance pa naman kami. ‘Yun nga lang, kalaban namin Ginebra. Pero it’s a challenge sa team namin kung paano kami mag-bounce back from this loss,” Castro said. 

(I think we still have a chance to make the playoffs. The thing is, we’re up against Ginebra. But it’s a challenge for the team to bounce back from this loss.)

“Lahat naman sa amin, positive pa naman kami na kaya pa namin manalo.” 

(All of us are positive that we can still win.) – Rappler.com