Gilas Pilipinas center Andray Blatche said he skipped the national team’s Saturday practice to rest his left ankle which he hurt during Gilas’ tune-up against Turkey the night before.
Here’s Blatche on his latest condition: pic.twitter.com/2eTUS5ZMOR
— LVJ (@levijoshua) July 2, 2016
Blatche led the Philippines with 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in the team’s 84-76 loss. The center, though, said the injury is just minor and he will be able to return for Gilas’ next practice session.
“It’s better. It’s still a little sore but I should be ready to get back in practice tomorrow,” Blatche said.
In the video above, Blatche also appears to be walking fine compared to Friday night when he was limping.
“Right now we are preparing. Today was more of a mental practice for us … We watched film. Tomorrow we are going to go live and go with the plays more.”
Blatche added that while Gilas improved, the squad shouldn’t be satisfied and should aim to win the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament here.
“We got better from the first time we played them. I don’t want us to be happy or excited because we played better. Our main goal is to win. But we have gotten a lot better,” he said.
