“Don’t worry about me.”
It has been exactly nine months since Almond Vosotros has stepped foot on a PBA court.
The 13th overall pick in the 2015 PBA Draft has only played in 12 games for the Blackwater Elite, for a total of just 93.5 minutes. For whatever reason, the 27-year-old sharpshooter has not been with the Elite this season.
But for the past year, the 5-foot-10 combo guard has always been seen at the Meralco Gym, training with Gilas Pilipinas. He was part of the team — though as a reserve — that played in the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge Cup.
After that tournament, Vosotros had a long break before Gilas re-opened its office again last March.
“Actually ako nga lang yung full-time dito, yung walang team,” the Albay-native quipped.
“Nag-start ako nung January, nag-enroll ako sa fitness gym then nag-shoot around ako sa courts namin. Weights, treadmill, tapos shoot around lang pero basketball, five-on-five, wala,” Vosotros recalled.
Once the lights of the Meralco Gym are sparked to start the practices of the National Team, Vosotros’ eyes glow, as he gets to play basketball again. Moreover, he gets to see and play with former De La Salle University teammates LA Revilla, Norbert Torres, and Arnold Van Opstal on a weekly basis, which excites him more.
“Sobrang exciting every practice,” he said.
“Sobrang malaking karangalan para sa akin kasi bihira lang mabigyan ng chance na ganito. Isang karangalan talaga siya.”
Though he is the only player in the pool that does not report to a mother team (his rights are still owned by Blackwater), he does not see this as a disadvantage.
“Hindi ko naman tinitignan yun. Ginagawa ko lang yung pinapagawa ng mga coaches,” shared the one-time SEABA gold medalist, who has made all 15 practices of Gilas this year.
“Pag tinignan ko kasi yung negative side, walang mangyayari sa akin. Lagi lang ako nasa positive.”
And he is still hopeful that he can make a return to the big league after all of this.
“Malaking opportunity talaga ito. Kailangan ko pagsikapan ‘to para makabalik sa PBA,” he declared.
