Castro to rehab knee before Asiad

SEVILLE – Asia’s No. 1 point guard Jayson Castro said the other day he will undergo immediate rehab on his swollen left knee and expects to be ready to play at the Asian Games in Incheon on Sept. 19-Oct. 4.

Castro sat out the Philippines’ 81-79 overtime win over Senegal at the FIBA World Cup here Thursday because the swelling in his left knee wouldn’t subside. He left for Manila with the Gilas team, except for Andray Blatche and six others, yesterday.

Blatche flew back to the US and will await word on his eligibility for the Asian Games before booking a flight to Manila. Staying in Spain for a few days are L. A. Tenorio, Marc Pingris, Jimmy Alapag, Jared Dillinger, Gabe Norwood and Japeth Aguilar. Gilas coach Chot Reyes will resume practice on Sept. 12.

Castro had surgery on his left knee to remove a bone spur and clean up tissue in Manila before leaving with Gilas for training camp in Miami last July. He only had a week of rest then plunged into hard practice. Ordinarily, doctors would prescribe at least three weeks of recovery.   Castro sat out Gilas’ last two practice games in Guadalajara with Achilles heel issues and rested a week.

“I was never 100 percent,” revealed Castro, speaking in Filipino. “But I wanted to help the team. No excuses. I think our performance wasn’t bad. It was a learning experience. Playing at the FIBA World Cup is a different level of competition we’re not used to. For the FIBA Asia Championships, we prepared three months. For the World Cup, we prepared only a month. We didn’t have too much time to practice with Dray, he’s still adjusting.”

Castro said eventually, the Philippines will begin to win games consistently on the global stage. “We’re learning,” he said. “In the PBA, we can break down the defense one-on-one. At the world level, we can’t do that. In a pick-and-roll, the defense always does a hard show and our shooters have to pull back.”

Gilas guard Paul Lee, who impressed coach Chot Reyes here, said teamwork is essential at the World Cup level. “We can’t win playing one-on-one because the opponents are too big,” he said in Filipino. “In the PBA, we can get by with one pick. At the World Cup, it has to be a series of picks.”

Lee complained of pain on the soles of both feet but conditioning coach Dexter Aseron said it’s not plantar fasciitis. “Paul should be fine for the Asian Games,” noted Aseron.

As for his PBA contract, Lee said he’ll review his options once he returns home. Staying with Rain Or Shine is a possibility, he added. “I don’t really know what’s happening,” he said. “I wanted to finish the World Cup before attending to my contract but I hope it’s all done before we leave for the Asian Games.”

Aside from Castro, another Gilas player who could use a lot of rest is power forward Marc Pingris. As soon as he gets home, Pingris will get an MRI on his right leg. There is pain in his heel and Aseron said it’s coming from a strain in his calf. Pingris said he was restricted by the pain in the Senegal game and played only 7:42 minutes.

Assistant coach Josh Reyes said lack of practice time hampered Gilas’ preparation for special situations. “We basically trained for just a month,” he said. “Our focus was doing things to keep every game close so we wouldn’t be blown out and we’d have a chance to win it in the end. We never got around to practicing special plays like off an inbound or a last play for the win. We faced game-winning situations against Croatia, Argentina and Puerto Rico. Against Puerto Rico, we had three transition chances late in the game but we hesitated.”

Reyes explained that it was never the goal to match up against the opposition by playing like them. “We didn’t want to be a second rate Euroball team playing against Greece or Croatia,” he said. “We wanted to be our own team, to be a first rate Filipino team.”

In the Puerto Rico game, team manager Aboy Castro gave up his slot on the bench for consultant Tab Baldwin. And against Senegal, it was Spanish consultant Nacho Lezcano’s turn to sit. Lezcano coached the Ivory Coast at the FIBA Africa  Championships last year and is familiar with Senegal’s style of play. That’s why coach Chot Reyes wanted him on the bench.

Baldwin, who lives in New Zealand, will fly to Manila to join Gilas in practice for the Asian Games. He will be joined by his wife. Baldwin, a former coach of the New Zealand and Jordan national teams, will also be team consultant for Talk ‘N’ Text in the PBA this coming season.