Chris Ross is considering undergoing a check-up after suffering an apparent tricep injury late in San Miguel’s eventual victory over Ginebra in Game 1 of their PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup semifinal clash, Wednesday night.
The decorated playmaker said that he may meet the doctor should the pain not subside in his right arm. It was the reason why he was seen trying to shake it off during a trip to the free throw line with 11.1 seconds left in the match.
“I think Imma get it checked up tomorrow if it doesn’t feel better,” he said shortly after the 92-90 win at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. “Hopefully, it will go away.”
It was also the reason why Ross uncharacteristically air-balled the first of his two charities, which drew jeers from the pro-Kings crowd at the Big Dome.
According to him, he already felt the pain after hauling down a rebound before being awarded the two bonuses and couldn’t shrug it off.
“I got the rebound and it felt like a cramp – I don’t know if it’s a cramp or a strain on my tricep. It just wouldn’t go away,” he said.
“I was gonna try to call a timeout. I thought I could just shake it off but then that first shot, I shot it as hard as I could but barely hit the net,” he added as he recalled the airball.
“I literally shot it as hard as I could.”
The 38-year-old himself could only laugh at that situation, especially when asked if he still remembers the last time he misfired that badly.
“High school,” said Ross with a chuckle. “That was 20 years ago. That’s what I’ve told my teammates, I was like, ‘Man I haven’t shot an airball in the free throw line for 20, 21 years.’ But it’s all good. As long as we won.”
Win they did and Ross couldn’t feel more proud of how they managed to pull it off, especially after almost squandering a 90-85 lead late in the fourth.
Still, he would prefer for the rest of the Beermen to remain on an even keel, since they have only won the first game of a best-of-five series.
“We’re down six at one point, we got a five-point lead and they came back. I told the guys that Ginebra is Ginebra. They’re not gonna die, they’re gonna keep fighting and we’re gonna have to play 48 minutes to beat these guys,” he said.
“I was proud of what we accomplished today but we haven’t done anything yet. We still have a couple more games. Hopefully, we can play better on Friday,” added Ross.
“I’ve been around Coach Tim long enough, I’ve been on his side a few times too and knowing what kind of adjustments he’s gonna make and how he’s gonna make his team fired up, we know we gotta be better on Friday.”
