Alex Cabagnot badly wants to defend San Miguel’s crown
In San Miguel Beermen’s case, ace shooter Alex Cabagnot decided to suit up on Friday night against Blackwater Elite — despite nursing a fractured nose.
The veteran floor general had sustained the injury last December 28 against the Meralco Bolts after receiving hard contact from Cliff Hodge and Reynel Hugnatan midway into the third quarter.
“It’s still a little bit swollen,” said Cabagnot of his injury moments after their 25-point drubbing of the Elite in the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“I got hit a couple times but hopefully it can [heal], I just have to ice it. It’s still fractured but we’ll try to work through it, no excuses.”
Such injury requires immediate surgery to be repaired, but given the lengthy timetable he has to give himself for full recovery, Cabagnot decided to set it aside first for him to finish the conference.
“Actually it does [need surgery] but if I do surgery it would take six weeks [recovery] so I’ll miss [the rest of Philippine Cup],” said Cabagnot, who tallied 14 points, knock down a couple of triples, and grab nine rebounds.
“I’m just gonna suck it up and wait it out.”
And since he is playing while injured, the 11-year veteran wore a black plastic mask in tonight’s match to protect his fractured nose from further pain brought by inadvertent hits.
“It’s actually doctor’s orders. I would love to take it off but I can’t. That’s the deal we made, I have to wear a mask and I can play or I don’t wear a mask and I don’t play,” the 34-year-old stressed.
The 5’11” point guard will still undergo surgery, but the needed cure for his facial injury will have to wait, as he plans to do it all after the Philippine Cup in which San Miguel are aiming to secure their third straight conference title.
“I’ll miss part of the Commissioner’s Cup. We’re in the middle of the season now and there are certain things you gotta do and you gotta take care of,” pointed Cabagnot.
“Put the priorities at hand first.”
