Ever since Greg Slaughter suffered an ankle injury two months ago, the question that coach Tim Cone has faced on a daily basis is when the 7-foot big man will make his return.
After their 95-87 Game Three win on Tuesday evening, Cone quickly addressed the question. And even the multi-titled tactician is in the dark about Slaughter’s timetable.
“Before you ask me, I don’t know when Greg is gonna be back.
“We’re working on him everyday, we’ve got trainers in his house. Basically, he’s doing 24-hour therapy trying to get back in but nothing is working so far,” disclosed the third-year Ginebra head coach.
As of last Sunday, Slaughter had shown members of the press that the swelling on his ankle has yet to subside. “It’s like a size of a golf ball,” said one of the few journalists who saw it.
Cone has been left pondering why it is taking so long to heal.
“He still got swelling and pain in the foot so it’s different for 7-feet, 280-pound guys than like me, who is 5-10, 180 pounds and that’s generous, I’m not really 180,” Cone quipped.
“But it’s a lot different for him and us, because there’s just too much weight that goes on into that ligament and it’s just really hard to heal than it is for smaller guys.”
Even if Ginebra are gunning for their first Philippine Cup in 11 years, Cone and his staff are not rushing Slaughter to get back.
“So we have to keep that into account and we also want to keep this long term health in mind so there are a lot of factors as to whether he can play or not,” Cone said.
“As of now, he can’t play. We’ll see again tomorrow and we’ll see again on Thursday. It’s really day-to-day at this point.”
