Castro vows to bounce back after woeful performance

MANILA, Philippines – Jason Castro is supposedly the secret weapon of the Smart Gilas national basketball team, but his first taste of action back home in almost two months ended with a blunder.

The spitfire guard – who played only ten minutes and committed five turnovers while suffering a mild hand injury at the start of the nationals’ tune-up game against a selection of PBA stars at the Mall of Asia Arena Wednesday night – was called out by head coach Chot Reyes for his miserable performance.

"Jason played really bad. The way he played today, I think he does not even deserve to be included in the team," said the fiery Reyes who was visibly upset even though his team managed to win, 99-87.

Castro, for his part, downplayed the concern of his coach, whom he has been playing for for four years and promised to do better the next time around.

"Hindi naman ako nag-struggle. Medyo nanibago lang kasi alam naman nila ang laro natin tapos nagka-injury ako start pa lang ng game. I tried to be aggressive sa second quarter, may halo lang din sigurong malas," said Castro.

"Sanay na ako kay coach, yun naman ang maganda sa kanya, ‘pag hindi ka naglalaro nang maayos, talagang sasabihan ka niya para i-motivate ka na maglaro nang maigi next game," he added.

Castro also shared that the injury will not affect his status for their final tune-up game against the Kazakhstan national team Friday.

"Wala naman bali, nabalik ko siya agad at na-check na ng doctors kanina. Medyo namamaga lang pero nothing serious," said the 5'11 guard from Pampanga.

The first-time national team member is raring to prove his worth, vowing to do better outing knowing the importance of Friday’s game.

"Maglalaro ako sa Friday. Ito yung parang first time ko maglaro against an Asian team kasi mga nakakalaban namin Lithuanians and New Zealand. Iba na ito, babawi ako sa game na yun," said Castro.

"Gusto namin manalo para madala namin yung winning momentum going into FIBA Asia."