Greg Slaughter admitted that he’s currently disappointed, as his current injury has greatly affected his status for the Philippine Men’s National Basketball Team’s match versus Iran in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
The 7-foot center has yet to recover from his left ankle injury, which he unfortunately sustained last Wednesday in the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s 104-98 victory over the NorthPort Batang Pier in the 2018 Governors’ Cup.
And according to national team head coach Yeng Guiao himself, he’s worried that Slaughter might not recover in time for their clash with Hamed Haddadi and the Iranians on September 13 at the Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran.
“I’m disappointed ’cause I was really excited to play,” said Slaughter after the Nationals’ tune-up match versus the iECO Green Warriors, 99-82, Sunday afternoon. The Ginebra star did not join the match but still sat on the sidelines with the team.
Ever since he got hurt, Slaughter has yet to join the Filipino dribblers’ practices – Sunday marked the fourth straight day he sat out of training. But that doesn’t mean that he’s not doing anything to heal his ankle as fast as he can.
“I have done some stuff… but for now the doctor said not to really put the weight on it or move it around so much,” the 30-year-old Slaughter said. “We’ll be working with our PT Dex (Aseron) here and see if we can do something.
“We’ll see when we get in Iran.”
The clouds of uncertainties have floated over Slaughter yet again. But for the Cebuano slotman, he’s getting strength from all the positives around him, such as FIBA clearing him to play for the national team as a local player.
And that means that Slaughter will be carrying the Philippine flag whenever the country needs his services.
“Coach Ryan (Gregorio) told me this isn’t a short thing, this is a long-term thing.
“And the biggest (thing) was getting my eligibility cleared and, you know, I look forward to playing for the national team for the rest of my career,” he said.
