Romeo might miss Gilas team’s home-and-away game in Feb.

WITH little time to prepare and get himself back in shape, reigning PBA scoring champion Terrence Romeo is likely to miss Gilas Pilipinas campaign again in the second stage of the home and away FIBA World Cup qualifier in Australia.

This was confirmed no less by Mr. Romeo himself in an interview with

“I haven’t touched a basketball nor joined in any basketball activity yet. That was the advice of the doctor,” said Mr. Romeo, who was named scoring champion by the PBA Press Corps in the recent Annual Awards Night.

He has spent the past few weeks doing therapy to strengthen his injured right knee.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Romeo missed Gilas Pilipinas’ away game in Japan as well as its home match against Chinese Taipei. Both games were won by the Philippine squad, which put the team in a better position heading to its much-awaited encounter with powerhouse Australia.

Without doing anything, Mr. Romeo said he had already gained a few pounds.

“That’s my biggest worry. If ever I will do continuous therapy for one month, I will only have one month to try and get my condition back. It’s hard because I didn’t have basketball activity for the past month. Even with my mother team, GlobalPort, I could only drop by and see them.”

“I’m still doing my therapy. After this, strengthening. I’m looking forward to get back in action.”

Mr. Romeo said his condition worsened after Gilas Pilipinas returned from its last tournament in Lebanon and the spitfire guard went back to action to help the Batang Pier’s campaign. It paid him a heavy price.

“There’s a swelling in the upper portion of my right knee. I really need to do the therapy. It’s been bothering me since last conference,” he added.

With Mr. Romeo out of action, he had to content himself watching the other guards headed by Jayson Castro as well as new inclusions like Kiefer Ravena and Kevin Alas.

“Watching ( Jayson brought back a lot of memories. He alongside ( Jimmy Alapag were my idols. I can’t describe my feeling sitting on the sidelines and watching him up close and personal while he gave our counterparts a neat lesson. It was a surreal feeling. I feel like I’m a kid watching,” he added.

To get himself back on track, Mr. Romeo believes he has to work double time to get himself back in condition but on the other hand, he also has to get worried that fast tracking his return might aggravate his situation.

“I need to work double time. There are lots of things to catch up. At the same time, I knew it won’t be easy for me to secure a spot as I have to contend with the younger guys who are equally good players,” he added. —