ANTIPOLO — Not being at a hundred percent isn’t an excuse for Rodney Brondial to hold back, as he knows how much is at stake in the PBA Finals.
The San Miguel bruiser is still nursing a sprained ankle he suffered back in Game 2 of the Season 50 Philippine Cup titular series last January 23, yet still wants to be a reliable workhorse for the reigning conference champions.
He proved as much in Game 5 on Friday night. The 35-year-old contributed 17 points, 15 rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots to help the Beermen maul TNT and move a win away from a successful title defense.
“Sabi ko lang doon sa mga PT namin, basta’t nakakabit pa, nakakatakbo pa, laban lang,” he said after their 96-82 victory at the Ynares Center here.
Brondial was actually scoreless in the opening frame but found his groove in the next. He poured in eight points to help SMB crawl back after being bombarded by the Tropang 5G and trailing by as many as 16 points.
“Wala namang nananalo sa first quarter lang,” he said.
“Alam naman namin na apat naman ang quarters na ‘yan, alam namin na makakabalik kami.”
(C) PBA Images
Then, when June Mar Fajardo went down with a hurt knee approaching the midway mark of the third, the nine-time MVP didn’t have to worry. The Adamson product’s effort proved enough to compensate for his absence.
Eventually, he’d finish with his best performance of the series to date, leading to a Player of the Game citation — much to his team’s delight.
“Gusto talaga namin manalo ngayon,” said Brondial, who was a +12 in the 33 minutes he played. “Mahirap kasi ma-down 3-2 dito sa series na ‘to.
“Tapos siguro, naging motivation din sa amin ‘yung sama ng pagkatalo namin last game,” he added, referring to the 110-87 beatdown they received in Game 4.
“Gusto talaga namin bumawi. Thank God nakuha namin ‘yung panalo.”
More than anything, the former sixth overall pick is just thankful to still be playing at this level, even though he’s yet to fully recover from his injury.
“Hindi pa kasi hundred percent yung tapilok ko pero buti, nakabalik na rin ako. Kahit papano, nakakapaglaro na ‘ko,” he said. “‘Yung mga nakaraang games, hindi ako masyado nakapag-contribute — siyempre, may mga inaalalayan.
“Ngayon, talagang sabi ko, hindi na tayo pwedeng pumetiks eh. Kailangan, buhos na. Hangga’t naka-kabit, laro pa.”
#WATCH: THE HUSTLE AND HARD WORK ARE THERE 🏀
Leo Austria was proud of San Miguel’s all-around effort to take Game 5 of the #PBA50 Finals#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/Sws8BlFc8z
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/t69pt75iXq
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) January 30, 2026
