Sidney Onwubere was said to be ruled out for the rest of the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup after suffering a major ankle injury during Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Christmas Clasico encounter with Magnolia.
But on Friday night, the bruising 6-foot-4 forward was back in action. He played in the Gin Kings’ clash with Blackwater at the Ynares Center.
Out in their previous three games, he played for a total of nine minutes and 53 seconds. He finished with nine points and an assist, helping his side take a 109-100 win to return to the win column after a four-game slide.
Head coach Tim Cone said that he and the team were surprised to see Onwubere back, for they thought he wouldn’t play in the meet anymore.
“He was basically not practicing at all until about three days ago. Suddenly. He went to see the doctor, and the doctor said that he looked to be healed,” he said. “We were all surprised. He was supposed to be another three weeks out.
“We slowly tested him a little bit in one practice and he didn’t feel any pain, he did another practice and before you know it he was all over the place,” Cone added, as Onwubere was projected to be out for six to eight weeks.
“We didn’t know he was gonna play today. I asked him. I came into the game and asked him, ‘What do you think, Sidney? Can you play the game today?’ And he says, ‘Yeah, I can play, I’ll try, coach.’ So he went out and tried.”
Nonetheless, the league’s only 23-time champion mentor is glad to have the former EAC standout at his disposal again.
“That’s a good step for him. You can see what he lends to us. He’s another big body, he’s a guy who can guard the import, as well as play different positions, and he’s just so active,” said Cone.
“That’s what our team really wants, that one player that goes to the boards, runs the floor, dive on the floor for loose balls and that’s kinda what we’re missing when we didn’t have him over these last three games.”
Onwubere’s return, moreover, definitely bodes well for a Ginebra team that’s been ravaged by injuries for practically the whole season.
With Stanley Pringle and Jared Dillinger both ruled out of the conference, the defending champions are still missing the services of Joe Devance, Aljon Mariano, and former Most Valuable Player Mark Caguioa.
While Devance is on course to return soon, the same couldn’t be said about Mariano and Caguioa, lamented Cone.
Caguioa is still dealing with a calf injury and is still weighing whether to return or not. Meanwhile, there’s no timetable yet on Mariano’s return after reportedly suffering a knee-ankle injury last conference.
Cone could only hope for the best for the Barangay, who remained in the hunt for a Top Four finish after improving to 4-4 with the win.
“But if we get another miraculous Sidney Onwubere back, you know, maybe he’s a Wolverine, I don’t know, heals right away, who knows,” he said.
“But the bottom line is we’re not expecting Stanley back and we’re certainly, for sure, not getting Jared back this conference.”
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