Gilas cagers back, but will they play?
Games Today (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 4:15 p.m. – TNT KaTropa vs Phoenix 7 p.m. – San Miguel vs GlobalPort
Five players who represented Gilas Pilipinas in the recent FIBA Asia Cup will either be absent or suiting up for their respective ballclubs today in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
TNT KaTropa's Jayson Castro and the San Miguel Beermen's June Mar Fajardo are game-time decisions as they deal with injuries suffered before or during the Asian tournament which saw Gilas placing seventh in Beirut, Lebanon.
KaTropa coach Nash Racela said Castro is day-to-day going into his team's 4:15 p.m. encounter with the struggling Phoenix Fuel Masters after sustaining a knee injury in Gilas' 75-70 victory over Jordan Sunday.
Though management stressed that Castro did not suffer anything serious when he ran into a Jordanese player in the fourth quarter of Sunday's match, TNT has opted to take precautionary steps to make sure the 2013 and 2015 FIBA Asia Mythical Five member would make a quick recovery.
Meanwhile, San Miguel team manager Gee Abanilla disclosed that Fajardo may play “short, managed minutes” per the Beermen's physical therapist after he was diagnosed with a strained right calf before the FIBA Asia tourney began two weeks ago.
Fajardo played in the last three games of the tournament after playing the role of cheerleader in Gilas' sweep of Group A.
While Castro and Fajardo deal with ailments, TNT's Roger Pogoy, Phoenix's Matthew Wright and GlobalPort's Terrence Romeo will see action for their teams.
Wright was given a much-deserved rest in Phoenix's 100-81 loss to Star two days ago – the team's fifth straight after a 2-0 start – while Romeo is expected to see his confidence grow after emerging as one of the best scorers in the FIBA Asia tourney as GlobalPort tries to improve its 2-2 card.
Pogoy, on the other hand, is a muchneeded presence for the KaTropa, who played shorthanded in Sunday's 105-73 loss to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters that put them in a similar record as the Batang Pier.
TNT was forced to give big minutes to seldom-used players Levi Hernandez and Alex Nuyles and added D-League veteran Rudy Lingganay in lieu of the absences of Pogoy, Castro and Troy Rosario, who is in Kuala Lumpur to beef up Gilas' gold medal bid in the Southeast Asian Games.
Racela is hoping that new import Glen Rice Jr., the son of the former NBA star who replaced Michael Craig, can make up for his so-so showing and put TNT back in the hunt for a top spot.