Mark Barroca has no intentions of sitting out games for Magnolia in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup despite nursing a sprained right wrist.
The veteran guard got injured during the Hotshots’ Manila Clasico encounter versus Ginebra last March 31, but still played through it against NLEX on Saturday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, which they eventually lost, 87-74.
“Wala naman. Nakakatakbo pa naman,” said Barroca, who’s 30 straight games away from moving past team manager Alvin Patrimonio’s second-all-time longest 596 games played, according to league stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
Barroca admitted that it’s tough playing with a hurt wrist, especially that it is his shooting hand that’s affected. But he remains thankful that he did not suffer anything serious after initially thinking that he sustained a fracture.
“Akala ko nga, fracture. Pina-check namin second opinion kay Dr. Canlas, sprain lang naman daw. Playable naman siya pero ang problema lang, ang sakit lang talaga ‘pag ititira,” said the 37-year-old, who had 10 points in the loss.
“Parang naglalaro ka, sa utak mo na lang, iniisip mo na ‘di masakit. Pero masakit,” he added.
“Naba-bother ka kapag tumira. Tuloy-tuloy lang naman ako, mawawala naman ‘to, parang tapilok lang. May time naman ako mag-heal.”
Still, Barroca’s status, despite being playable as he said, is a hard blow to a Magnolia side that’s already been dealing with injuries to key cogs.
Rome dela Rosa and Aris Dionisio are out due to ankle injuries, leaving a gaping hole to Coach Chito Victolero’s forward rotation.
It didn’t help, too, that the Hotshots missed Calvin Abueva against the Road Warriors as he served a one-game ban following his unsportsmanlike behavior in their meeting with the Kings, where he flipped off a fan at courtside.
“Parang sampal sa amin ‘yung nangyari. Mahirap talaga ‘pag maraming injuries. ‘Yun ‘yung key sa amin, sa success namin last conference. Buo kami, walang injuries,” he said, referring to their Finals trip in the Commissioner’s Cup.
“Ngayon injured especially ‘yung mga key players namin, sina Aris, Rome. Wala si Calvin ngayon, suspended, Ang hirap, sanay kami na andyan sila e. Kasi sila yung mga pantapat namin katulad nung mga isi-switch kami ng ibang teams.”
Now it’s about regrouping for Barroca and Co. ahead of their game against NorthPort on April 10, where they hope to avoid falling into a 1-3 hole.
“It’s a big game para sa amin kasi mahirap mabaon sa ibaba. Ok na yung 2-2 ka siguro kesa 1-3 ‘di ba? ‘Yun yung mindset namin,” he said.
