Injuries continue to haunt Gilas Pilipinas now that the 30th Southeast Asian Games are fast approaching.
The Nationals already lost Jayson Castro due to a soleus muscle strain that will keep him out for several weeks; then just recently, Greg Slaughter suffered a dislocated thumb during one of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s practices last week.
And now, another player has apparently joined the injured list in veteran internationalist Troy Rosario.
The 6-foot-7 wing missed the Nationals’ first tuneup game with San Miguel Alab Pilipinas last November 4 due to a calf injury. He was out again in their second meeting with the ASEAN Basketball League team Monday.
According to Gilas head coach Tim Cone, Rosario has problems in his finger.
“The one I’m concerned with is Troy. Troy’s had an Achilles problem, now he has a finger problem,” he said.
“We need to get him on the floor so we can get used to playing with him. He’s one of the guys that we are really looking to rely on, to give us the versatility that we need to play.“
Gilas played minus three men, and Cone admitted that it was tough for them to play without two of their bigs while the opposition played with all of their three imports. As a result, the Filipino dribblers bowed, 89-93.
“We lacked big men,” Cone said after the match at the Meralco Gym in Pasig. “Greg was out, and Troy Rosario was out, so we were trying to play four guys as the bigs. We weren’t equipped to move Vic Manuel to a small position yet.
“Troy, our most versatile player, wasn’t able to play. We could’ve used him as a three or a four to match up with their size.“
Cone admitted that he hates losing even if it was just a tuneup. But he still stuck with the positives of the loss, saying that this will be a good lesson for them for the regional biennial meet slated from November 30-December 11.
“The good news is we battled. Guys were pulling for each other all the time. We were unselfish. We tried hard on defense, although we were disorganized. Those were all the positives that we wanna move forward on,” he said.
“It’s a step back. but I think it’s a good step back that we have. We understand how hard this is gonna be. This is not gonna be easy. It’s a good message for everybody. Hopefully, this is one step back, two steps forward.“
