San Miguel head coach Leo Austria is simply hoping for the best after Terrence Romeo’s injury in their PBA Philippine Cup duel with Phoenix, Friday.
The decorated mentor admitted that he has yet to learn the extent of the injury. Still, he has his fingers crossed that the star scorer did not suffer anything serious since he had just recovered from a hyper-extended knee.
A report during the game’s broadcast said that the 29-year-old point guard experienced issues with his right achilles tendon.
“Hindi ko pa alam kung ano ‘yun, ia-assess pa namin mamaya with the PT,” Austria said.
“Nakita ko eh, tine-tape. We don’t want to aggravate dahil kailangan patingnan muna namin kung anong klaseng injury ‘yun, ano.
“I’m praying and hoping na hindi seryoso. Actually, hindi ko pa nakita kung ano talaga ‘yung ano… Siguro mamaya ia-advise ako ng mga PT namin kung ano ‘yung nangyari talaga sa kanya,” added the 63-year-old.
Romeo started the game and saw action for over 10 minutes, but never returned in the second half. He only had three points, three assists, a rebound, and a steal.
But he didn’t have to worry about missing out, as his teammates rallied towards the dominant 110-80 victory.
Still, it doesn’t make Austria less worried. Aside from the eight-year pro’s health – which is the team’s utmost concern – the four-time Coach of the Year said that it would be a tough blow for SMB should he sit out games.
Photo by PBA Images
Prior to Friday, Romeo was averaging 22.2 points, including a conference-high 29 points in a 111-102 win over reigning champs Ginebra last week. And he would be badly needed with the playoffs fast approaching.
“Kung mai-injured na naman siya, medyo hindi maganda para sa amin ‘yun dahil alam naman natin na si Terrence right now, before this game, he’s one of the top scorers ng liga e,” said Austria.
Still, Austria hopes that Romeo will be fine. And he has strong belief, too, with the ability of the FEU product to rise from yet another test.
“Terrence naman is a hard-worker.”
