SMART CLARK GIGA CITY — Jay Washington continues to show his worth for TNT, logging major minutes in Game Four of their 2020 PBA Philippine Cup semis battle with Phoenix Super LPG, Wednesday night.
The 39-year-old played a total of 31 minutes and 27 seconds in the game. And he picked up six points, five rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and a steal while helping the Tropang Giga eke out a campaign-saving 102-101 win.
Washington — a three-time Mythical First Team member and twice a Best Player of the Conference awardee — was only seeing an average of fewer than 10 minutes in the first three games of the best-of-five series.
The 6-foot-7 forward couldn’t have stepped up at a better time, since TNT’s main bigs in Troy Rosario and Poy Erram struggled all night long.
After providing nicely in the last two games, Rosario went scoreless in 23 minutes of play. Meanwhile, Erram was held to just four points.
But more than his offensive contributions, it was his effort on the defensive end that drew praises from head coach Bong Ravena.
The seasoned mentor said that they looked at Washington as their defensive anchor. And he did just that, especially with the number of shots he swatted — having provided that same spark in Game Two, although in a losing cause.
“We need players who can stop the opponents. So it’s very obvious that Jay Wash is really our anchor in the middle who made stops defensively.”
Now, Ravena hopes to see that same consistency on defense from Washington and the rest of the Tropang Giga as they play in the winner-take-all Game Five on Friday, Nov. 25.
“They have to be consistent, especially on defense,” he said.
“Basically it’s really our defense that really counts.”
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