Chris Ross assured that he will suit up for the San Miguel Beermen in Game Two of the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup Finals, after sustaining a minor ankle injury in the series opener, Friday night.
“Just tweaked it. I’ll be alright. I’ll be alright by Sunday,” said Ross, who came out of the Beermen’s dugout at the SMART Araneta Coliseum limping.
It wasn’t a pleasant Friday night for Ross by any means. Aside from picking up a minor injury, his Beermen played uncharacteristically and bowed to Justin Brownlee and the hot-shooting Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 99-127.
The Beermen played as if they were not the defending champions in Game One – they even went down by as much as 39 at one point. For Ross, it’s not about strategies or whatnot, but the team’s effort.
“When you lose by a big margin like that, it’s not just about Xs and Os or anything like that.
“It’s just about effort. When you lose close games, maybe it’s the play here and there that you can fix. But when you lose by a big margin, it’s about effort throughout the game,” pointed out the reigning Best Player of the Conference.
But no matter how deflating Game One’s loss is, Ross is keeping his head up, as they still have a chance to redeem themselves – and to tie the best-of-seven series – in Game Two this Sunday, July 29, still at the Big Dome.
“That’s what’s good in a series,” said the 33-year-old combo guard, who played just 24 minutes in Game One after averaging 31 minutes prior.
“You go back, look, make some changes, and come back ready for the next game. No matter if you lose by 40, 50, 60, or one, it’s just one loss. They’re up 1-0, so we’ll go back to the drawing board tomorrow and get ready for Sunday.”
