The Final Score: Jason Castro has fortitude of a future MVP

Source: gmanews.tv

Talk ‘N Text concluded with relief, Petron concluded in dismay: a damn good player on just one good leg was still damn good. Jason Castro in Game 6 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals was probably not as rapid as usual but he was just as resolute. While he hobbled and winced, I wondered what madness drove him to play. He entered the game as a mystery. Could he be effective? Was he foolish for even suiting up? The mystery didn’t last long. He attacked like the knee brace didn’t exist. He made outside shots like he wasn’t supposed to. Petron realized Castro, a tragic figure of helplessness in Game 5, a picture of stubborn fury in Game 6, was, by all accounts, a madman.

In some ways, Castro is just like most PBA players. Quiet and understated. He’s so meek, in fact, he occasionally won’t reply to text messages requesting for interviews. He’s not being rude. He’s just being genuinely shy. Like he feels he doesn’t deserve all this attention. Who me? Why me? I’m just a player doing his job. I drive. I dribble. I score. Big deal? Yet when he drives, dribbles and scores, often past men twice his size, often under the weight of his team’s expectations, the truth emerges. He is unlike most PBA players.

People say Jason Castro will change the way point guards play in the PBA. He has Johnny’s speed, Willie’s creativity…and…Alvin’s power. Alvin’s power? Okay, I think I’m going nuts. Or am I? 19 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in 21 minutes in Game 6. On one good knee. In a do-or-die game. Against some of the most rugged defenders in the league. I think, he’s the one going nuts. Consider these: 24 points (9/16 FG’s) in Game 2. 23 points (8/9 FG’s, 6/6 FT’s), 10 assists and zero turnovers in 21 minutes in Game 3. No wonder Petron Assistant Coach Bobby Parks, when I asked him which TNT player haunts them in their dreams, instantly replied, “Castro." Also, when a 7-time PBA Best Import says Castro is playing like an import; that means something. Castro is, therefore, not a blur. He is insane.

Yet mad men have feelings too. See, Castro did not play in the All-Star Game last May. He wasn’t included. But he was in Boracay (as part of TNT’s team-building activity) to watch it. And so he watched, like an average PBA bakasyonista, unnoticed by most. A two-time Finals MVP sat on a plastic stool inside the Boracay Convention Center, away from the spotlight reserved for select PBA stars, in silence. As one source told me, he sat there, hurt. Hard fouls probably don’t sting Castro as much as being overlooked. Well, good pinoy news Jason! After your gritty Game 6 performance last Friday, attached to a breakout season to remember, how can anyone possibly overlook you now? And if, in case, defenders still ignore you in the future, they can only be described as such: baliw.