Japeth Aguilar didn’t hide his frustration over the calf injury that has put a big question mark on his status for the 2022 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals.
The 6-foot-9 forward was reduced to a spectator in Game Two of Barangay Ginebra’s best-of-five affair with NLEX on Friday. He has a diagnosis of a Grade 2 sprain on his left calf, with staff listing him as day-to-day.
He witnessed his side conquer the opposition by way of a 104-94 result. Still, the star forward would’ve preferred to go to battle with the Kings instead.
“Mas nafu-frustrate ako kasi … ‘yun yung things na uncontrollable, ‘yung di mo mae-expect,” lamented Aguilar after the match at the SM MOA Arena.
“Like, ‘yun nga, nag-umpisa sa contusion, tinamaan, ‘di ko naman inaasahan na magli-lead sa ganito,” the 35-year-old furthered.
“Kasi as much as possible gusto ko rin makatulong sa mga teammates ko.”
As head coach Tim Cone had disclosed previously, Aguilar said he’d felt pain in the affected calf since their quarters match with TNT.
The 12-year veteran added that he rested for two days to not aggravate the injury any further, thus the disappointment on his part that it aggravated in the third quarter of Game One which definitely affected his mobility.
Photo by PBA Images
“Nag-start siya TNT game pa lang, yung last game. First quarter pa lang, tinamaan na siya, tas nilaro ko the whole game,” Aguilar recalled. “Actually pinahinga ko after ng game namin for two days.
“But sa totoo lang hirap pa rin akong … mag-sprint and stuff. Nung last game, ‘di ko na medyo inisip and, ‘yun, nag-tighten up. Tapos ‘yun na nangyari.”
How painful is it? “I can’t really put weight on it,” he said. “That’s how painful it is. Yung game ko [pa] naman is being explosive, running, jumping.”
Cone, meanwhile, bared further details on Aguilar’s injury, saying that his situation is more delicate since there’s also a strain on the inner muscle.
“It’s been diagnosed as a Grade 2 strain but that’s the outer muscle. It’s actually a Grade 1 strain on the inner muscle, so that makes it a little bit more severe and maybe a little bit more long time to get back,” he said.
Aguilar had undergone a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy already, according to the champion mentor. Then they’ll see from there if he will be able to suit up in the potential series clincher on Sunday.
“He took a PRP yesterday and that PRP will either work really well, or it doesn’t work at all. And so if it works then maybe we can get him back by Sunday. If it doesn’t then hopefully we get him back on Wednesday,” said Cone.
Aguilar, who has a doctor’s advice to simply rest, said that they’re doing everything they can to speed up the process of healing.
“Ginagawa namin lahat ng kaya namin para mapabilis yung pag-recover,” said the 2019 Governors’ Cup Finals MVP.
“Pero as of now, day-to-day.”
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