It has been quite challenging for Terrence Romeo to stay in rhythm after suffering a pair of injuries in the ongoing 2021 PBA Philippine Cup.
The San Miguel guard was practically in and out because of injury. He first incurred a hyper-extended knee in their season opener last July 18, then hurt his foot last September 17 that brought him out of the Pampanga semi-bubble.
The 29-year-old admitted that he came to a point where he feared being out for a long time again, just like what happened in Clark last year that saw his campaign end after only three games due to a dislocated shoulder.
“‘Yung pinaka-una kong injury, ‘yung sa laban namin ng Meralco. ‘Yun ‘yung talagang kinabahan ako na baka ma-out nanaman ako the whole conference,” he recalled, pertaining to his knee injury which he got against Meralco.
“Tapos, ‘yung nagsimula na ‘yung game dito (Bacolor), maganda pa rin ‘yung nailaro ko, tapos na-injury na naman ako nung kalaban namin ‘yung Phoenix.”
As difficult as it was, though, Romeo simply did not throw in the towel, and instead pushed himself to do his best to be of help to SMB.
“‘Di ko lang talaga ma-diretso pero hindi ako susuko. Alam ko may purpose. Hindi ako bibitaw,” he said. “Gagawin ko ‘yung best ko para makatulong sa team, para ma-achieve namin ‘yung goal namin as a team.”
During Game Two of their best-of-seven semifinal clash versus rivals TNT Wednesday, the eight-year pro out of FEU was true to his word.
After scoring just two points in the first half, Romeo fired 15 points in the fourth quarter to spearhead the Beermen’s comeback from 19 down towards the 98-96 victory, tying the series to one game apiece.
The former UAAP MVP finished with 26 points on 45-percent shooting, together with four assists in over 27 minutes off the bench.
“‘Yun ‘yung character ng team na ‘to kaya special ‘yung SMB, dahil kahit na anong sitwasyon namin, ‘di kami bumibitaw,” he said after the win at the DHVSU Gym.
“Nag-uusap kami, stay together kahit ano mangyari.“
Romeo, who only had eight points in their Game One loss three days ago, is thankful that he’s regaining his form again.
Photo by PBA Images
“Unang-una nagpapasalamat ako kay God dahil sinamahan niya ‘yung mga tira ko tsaka mga decisions ko. ‘Yung game ko, ayun nga, medyo up and down kasi nakadalawang injury ako ngayong conference,” he said.
“So sinusubukan ko na i-maintain pero ‘yun nga, ‘pag na-iinjured ako, nawawala na naman ako sa timing. So thank God at unti-unti bumabalik na ulit ‘yung timing ko sa game,” added the former three-time scoring champ.
