Three months since suffering a knee injury, Jackson Corpuz has finally returned to action for Columbian.
Now sporting a sleeve on his left knee — where he suffered a slight tear to both his meniscus and PCL — the 6-foot-4 forward suited up for the Dyip’s match versus the NorthPort Batang Pier in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday.
The Philippine Christian University alum made notice of his return to the fold, but not in the most ideal of ways.
Corpuz checked in at the 11:38-mark of the second frame. Just 11 seconds later, he gave Mychal Ammons a hard foul. He then got slapped with a technical foul for second motion as well.
The 30-year-old admitted he intentionally committed the foul to wake up his teammates, since they were trailing at the time.
“Yun nga lang pagbalik, penalty agad.
“Pero wala eh, kasi ang lalambot kasi namin kanina eh. Parang kailangan gumising eh. Nagbigay lang ng konti, ayun, napalala,” recalled Corpuz.
Still, the foul seemed to help. The Dyip made strides in the third quarter, erupting for 38 points in the said period alone, and that turned the game around.
Columbian eventually won, 114-108, to get back on track in the conference and improve their card to 2-1.
Furthermore, Corpuz is glad to finally be back. But he said he’s still far from his old form, only joining team scrimmages as of last week, while doctors cleared him to play just recently.
“Last week lang ako sumabay sa contact at scrimmage. Tapos isang araw lang ako na-clear sa doctor,” he said.
He asked coach Johnedel Cardel if he can play for at least a minute, just so he could get a bit of his timing back. He ended up getting more than he asked for, logging in seven minutes.
“Sabi ko coach kahit two minutes — kahit one minute nga lang — okay lang para makakuha man lang ako ng konting timing. Pinagbigyan. Buti nga umabot pa ko seven minutes eh.
“Pasalamat ako kay coach John kasi tiwala pa rin. Kahit galing ako sa injury, ganun pa rin yung haba ng minuto na ibinigay sa’kin,” said Corpuz, who had a rebound and an assist in the game.
Corpuz, of course, is grateful. And he now hopes to regain his game shape to further help the Dyip.
“Sana next game medyo makuha ko ng konti. Kahit eighty-percent okay na sa’kin, kasi tiwala naman sa’kin si coach John eh. Okay naman yun sa’kin.”
