REY Nambatac was gracious to offer his first ever PBA Finals MVP to the player who stood as mentor to him during the Commissioner's Cup title series between TNT and Barangay Ginebra.
The 31-year-old Nambatac shared the coveted award handed out by the PBA Press Corps and presented by Honda to his Tropang Giga teammates, most especially to injured veteran Jayson Castro.
The guard out of Letran acknowledged Castro, 38, guided him and offered pieces of advice during the entire best-of-seven series, which TNT won in overtime Friday night in dramatic fashion, 87-83, before a season-high crowd of 21,274 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Nambatac lost no time to acknowledge the huge help extended by TNT's long-time leader to help him run the backcourt as the team's top point guard following Castro's season-ending knee injury.
"Pinasasalamatan ko si Kuya Jayson, ang naging mentor ko talaga sa series na ito," said Nambatac.
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"Ito na yung team mo. Ikaw na yung next na mag-step up diyan. Ikaw na yan," were the encouraging words the 'Blur' told Nambatac in the course of the title series.
He took that to heart and came up big in the deciding Game 7, finishing with 22 points, two rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while sparking the telling 6-0 run to start the extra period and put TNT in control for good.
For the entire seven-game series, Nambatac averaged 17.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, while scoring his playoff-career high 23 points in the 87-83 Game 6 win that paved the way for the weekend's winner-take-all showdown.
Nambatac also won his second straight championship in only his second conference with the TNT franchise.
For the record, Castro was also named Finals MVP when the Tropang Giga won the season-opener Governors' Cup against the Kings last November. (RG)
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