TALK ‘N TEXT SWEEPS CONFERENCE’S INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
After leading Talk ‘N Text to 13 straight wins and a Finals berth, Jayson Castro was hailed as the 2014 PLDT Home TVolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup Best Player of the Conference.
Averaging 13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.2 blocks per outing through the semifinals, the Guagua, Pampanga native took home his second BPC hardware after winning his first in the 2013 Philippine Cup.
The national team player named Asia’s best point guard in last year’s FIBA-Asia Championships became the first Talk ‘N Text player to win his second BPC award, and also joins an elusive club in becoming the 14th player to win the BPC at least twice.
Castro had a total of 1,163 equivalent points, from 408 stats points, 532 media votes, 73 players’ votes, and 150 points from the PBA Commissioner’s Office.
The Blur edged teammate Ranidel de Ocampo, who wounded up second with 831 points total, Air21’s Asi Taulava (552 points), and San Miguel Beer teammates June Mar Fajardo (447 points) and Arwind Santos (409 points).
Meanwhile, Castro’s teammate Richard Howell ran away with the Bobby Parks Best Import award after tallying 1,352 total points.
The North Carolina State alumnus tallied 21.4 points, 19.3 boards, 1.4 dimes, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 rejections to grab 566 stats votes, 537 media votes, 99 players’ votes, and 150 votes from the PBA.
Howell outlasted San Mig Coffee’s James Mays (952 points), Rain or Shine’s Wayne Chism (595 points), and Air21’s Wesley Witherspoon (503 points) for the said award.
The 6-foot-8 center became the second Talk ‘N Text player to cop the Best Import plum since Jerald Honeycutt did it in the 2002 Commissioner’s Cup and 2005 Fiesta Conference.
The duo of Castro and Howell became just the first team to sweep both honors since the San Miguel pair of Jay Washington and Gabe Freeman did it in the 2010 Fiesta Conference (RL)
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
