The Final Score: A short stroll with Jvee Casio

Outside the Red Gate of the Araneta Coliseum, an hour after Powerade extended the PBA Finals for at least one more game, I caught up with Powerade starting point guard Jvee Casio. He just finished posing for pictures with fans. We started to walk past restaurants and bars.

 

Rookies like Jvee Casio aren't supposed to play 40 plus minutes in Finals games. Or maybe rookies exactly like Jvee Casio must play 40 plus minutes in must-win Finals games. When the number one pick plays on a team that lives on the edge, that ends up trailing in a best-of-seven Finals 0-1, then 0-2, then 0-3, and now 1-3, it seems to make perfect sense.

We chatted while walking. No eye contact needed. We both looked forward to avoid bumping strangers from a Friday night crowd. I asked, "Do you still feel like a rookie?"

 

"Sa grabe ng pinag-daanan namin...," Jvee started. He paused mid-sentence. He reflected for about five seconds. I didn't see his pained yet polite facial expression when he grants interviews. But the pause was all I had to hear. Then, he completed his sentence, "Parang hindi na rin."

 

Some players wait years just to reach a PBA championship series. Others like Casio—a rookie, a first-timer, ang bagong salta—gain years of experience in a matter of weeks. In his first playoff run, Casio quarterbacks an underdog team through the Quarterfinals, the Semifinals and the Finals. For a rookie, even one with international experience, it's still high-pressure, high-speed education. 

 

I suddenly remembered what guest TV analyst Jong Uichico said moments before Game Four. To prepare for the live broadcast, we discussed Casio's role as starting point guard. Uichico was concerned about Casio's minutes in the series. Jvee was playing too much. I agreed. Uichico shrugged, smiled, raised his hands and offered a validation. "What can they do? They need him," Uichico said. "He's really an intelligent player."

 

From one outdoor table, a man in his 40's shouted, "Jvee! Jvee! Ipanalo niyo sa Sunday!" The man was probably inebriated. But he sounded sincere enough. The other members of his beer bucket entourage smiled. They seemed sincere too. He raised his beer mug and capped his beer-buzzed pep talk by shouting, "Kaya niyo yan!" 

 

Jvee politely replied, "Thank you po."

 

Five to six minutes at best. That was the length of our post-game conversation. It was a short stroll from the Red Gate to the Yellow Gate. 

 

"Good luck sa Sunday," I said. 

 

Although they've had lots of it, Jvee surely appreciates receiving an extra kick of basketball luck for Game Five. Another must-win game awaits. Another pressure-packed day in the first months of Casio's career beckons. A short stroll feels like a lengthy walk. Weeks feel like years worth of attrition. He has learned a lot this soon, this fast. He is new in the PBA. But he hardly feels lost. — GMA News