After nine long months of being away from the courts of the PBA due to a career-threatening knee injury, Blackwater Elite center JP Erram finally returned to the fold Wednesday night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The 15th overall pick of the 2013 PBA Draft tore the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee back in August of last year, during the Governor’s Cup. As a result, he went under the knife for its repair, sidelining him for months and sadly, lost his chance to be part of the Gilas Pilipinas pool during the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge Cup.
Now that he has came back for his mother team, Erram could not be more elated. However, the 6-foot-7 big man out of Ateneo de Manila University admitted that he still has some catching up to do as he seeks to regain his old form.
“Medyo off pa eh. Siyempre kakabalik ko lang, kaka-practice ko lang sa team siguro mga five days ago,” said Erram after their 124-113 loss to the San Miguel Beermen, where he played six minutes and tallied a steal and a block.
“Medyo nangangapa pa ng konti — konti lang naman, kasi pagbalik ko same lang naman din. Walang pinagbago sa system eh. Yung mga teammates ko tinutulungan din naman ako maka-adjust.”
In retrospect, Erram’s injury was the first of a handful of misfortunes that came to the team. After Erram, Art Dela Cruz ruptured his Achilles tendon early March. Rookie Mac Belo then followed with a hurt meniscus, leaving the Elite without their key players.
Had Blackwater never became bitten hard by the injury bug, Erram firmly believes that the already-ousted team’s fortunes especially in the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup could have been the other way around.
“Siyempre yung core ng team nandoon din, at meron kaming reliable scorers in Mark and Art. Sobrang sayang na ‘di kami kumpleto,” rued Erram.
“Pero if ever na kumpleto kami, iba yung itatakbo ng team, iba yung itatakbo ng sistema, mas magki-click kami lahat.”
As their run in the mid-season conference has come to a close with a dismal 3-8 card, Erram and the Elite are now setting their sights into the 2017 Governor’s Cup, with hopes of yielding much bettet results.
“We’ll take it one game at a time. From there, we’ll see kung ano mangyayari,” said Erram. “Kasi siyempre ‘di rin naman basta-basta na babalik yung mga injured. Siyempre magaadjust pa rin sila. Lalo ako magaadjust pa ‘ko.
“Sana maganda maipakita ng team.”
