Ginebra holds its breath after Jamie Malonzo got hurt just before the final buzzer sounded on its eventual win over NorthPort in PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup action, Sunday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Kings were about to celebrate their 95-88 win but rushed to the aid of the young forward instead after his left leg gave way with only 5.3 seconds left to play following an apparent attempt for a slam dunk to end the contest.
So worried was Coach Tim Cone and the rest of the crew that the champion mentor was no longer able to take part in the customary postgame handshake.
Malonzo, who finished with 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists in 37 minutes, had to be carried by his teammates on the way to their locker room.
He also had to be assisted by members of the coaching staff on his way out of the venue as the league’s medical standby was no longer within the premises.
Jamie Malonzo leaves Ninoy Aquino Stadium hobbling 🙏#PBA2024
🎥 @JustineBacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/MQcbXuS1OF
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) April 14, 2024
“I didn’t even get the chance to shake Coach Bonnie’s hand after the game because we were concerned about Jamie,” the champion mentor said during the postgame presser. “We had to carry him off into the locker room.”
There’s no prognosis yet at this point, but Cone and the team are all keeping their fingers crossed that Malonzo did not suffer anything serious.
“It looks like a calf or an Achilles issue. Not sure, one or the other. I’m not a doctor so I don’t want to make a prognosis,” he said.
“But we’ll get him to the doctor tomorrow or the day after, see if we can get the swelling down, if there’s any swelling. At this point, he’s gonna be out at least a few days, hopefully it doesn’t stretch into weeks or months,” he added.
It sure is a tough blow for a Kings side that’s seemingly getting its groove on in the all-Filipino conference. Their victory over the Batang Pier was their second in a row — their first back-to-back wins since starting the tilt 2-0.
“There’s a lot of concern,” said Cone on the team’s morale now that there are fears of missing Malonzo, who’s also part of the current Gilas pool, for a while. “We were gathered around him. We didn’t know what was going on.
“I just checked on him briefly in the locker room so there wasn’t really an opportunity to test the waters over there. He’s such a valuable part of our team. He’s such a great teammate and everybody loves him,” he added.
Now it’s about exercising the next-man-up mentality once more as Ginebra awaits the real status of Malonzo, who’s been averaging 14.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game in the ongoing conference.
“We’re all gonna be feeling bad if he’s not able to play. But just like any other thing, it’s next man up,” he said.
