Greg Slaughter vowed that he is doing everything in his power to speed up the recovery of his left ankle so that he can suit up for Gilas Pilipinas in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers set to tip off a week from now.
The seven-footer sustained the injury on Wednesday night in the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s 104-98 victory over the NorthPort Batang Pier, as he accidentally stepped on opponent Sean Anthony after a rebound play underneath the rim.
“Right now it’s still really painful… It was really unlucky, but I’m still doing everything I can to get back,” said Slaughter, who watched the Nationals’ practice on the sidelines on Thursday night while wearing an ankle brace.
Slaughter admitted that he has yet to consult a doctor. For now, what he and his trainers are doing is reducing the swelling of his ankle, which is the very same one he hurt back in the 2018 Philippine Cup.
“We’re trying to control the swelling, because when it swells, you can’t get the range on your ankle to do any jumping or running,” he said. “We did some needling, try to get some oxygenated blood in to maybe speed up the healing.
“I’m gonna go see the doctor tomorrow.”
But more than his recovery, what Slaughter is really looking forward to the most is a message from FIBA that approves his eligibility for the national team – the whole Gilas team is still waiting until now.
His eligibility issues have stalled Gilas head coach Yeng Guiao’s plans of building the 12-man lineup that will face Iran on September 13 in Tehran.
“I’m also looking forward to getting my eligibility cleared. I’ll just be relieved once I get cleared, knowing that I can play for the Philippines for the rest of my career,” said the Cebuano center.
“I’ve really been looking forward to this opportunity.”
