The Blur also looked back to the team’s struggles in the entire season-ending conference.
“This is the [championship] na masarap panalunin.”
These were the words of Jayson Castro after Friday’s Game 6 of the PBA Governors’ Cup finals, where the TNT Tropang Giga conquered Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 97-93, to clinch the title with a 4-2 series win.
Castro, who has now won his eighth PBA championship, uttered that statement as he was looking back to the challenges that his team faced all conference.
Starting center Poy Erram was out a significant time due to his knee injury. In the middle of the conference, they also had to send former import Jalen Hudson home, seeing that they had more needs to fill. And when replacement import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson joined the fold, they faced another task of building chemistry anew—with just a handful of games left in the elimination round.
They powered through all of those challenges, which makes winning this championship sweeter.
“We’ve been through a lot, especially mga injuries. Nagpalit kami ng import kasi feel namin na mas kailangan namin ng dominant na import,” Castro said in the postgame interview.
But what really makes this victory special for the 15-year veteran? He says it’s like winning his first.
“Sobrang sarap nito, parang nung rookie year ko,” The Blur said.
Castro also knows that getting the chances to battle for a championship, at this point in his career, may come few and far between. So, he’s soaking it in until Father Time fully shuts the door on him.
“Kasi kung mapapansin ninyo, almost ilang taon na lang ‘di ba nandoon na tayo. [Kaya] itong mga ganitong championship napakasarap talaga,” the two-time Best Point Guard in Asia said.
Nonetheless, he still hopes his eighth title won’t be the last.
“Sana masundan pa.”
With a powerhouse squad in TNT led by rookie champion coach Jojo Lastimosa and two-time Finals MVP Mikey Williams, it's not a long-shot.