Terrafirma just can’t seem to get rid of bad luck.
Already in the midst of a harrowing losing skid in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup, the Dyip will miss Kemark Carino for a significant amount of time due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on his left knee.
Acting head coach Raymond Tiongco told Tiebreaker Times that the young big man got hurt during their preparations for the season-ending conference, and has been scheduled to undergo surgery some time next week.
“Malamang, next year na ‘yan,” he said. “Or eight months.”
One of the holdovers of the historic Terrafirma batch that reached the Season 48 Philippine Cup quarterfinals, the former B.League import was initially suspected to have only sustained a sprain when he went down in practice.
But MRI results proved otherwise as a tear was found out, and losing a key cog, especially upfront, has been a major reason why the team is free-falling once more — that, after opening the tilt with a 95-87 victory over Phoenix.
The Dyip on Wednesday fell to their sixth successive defeat after being whipped by NLEX, 117-87, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in a game where Robert Bolick hardly exerted any effort as he gave way to the younger ones.
“Pagtingin sa MRI, punit,” said the former lead assistant.
But it’s not just Carino’s absence which Tiongco & Co. have been dealing with.
Terrence Romeo, for one, has been out since playing in their first three games of the all-Filipino tournament no thanks to a recurring back injury.
“Ang sabi ng mga PT namin four weeks na rest ‘yung back niya. So ‘yung dati niyang injury. Hindi pwede mapwersa,” he said.
“Pahinga talaga. Hopefully, mga last two games nandito siya, maka-recover pa–and may go-signal ng PT,” furthered Tiongco.
The Dyip backcourt is also managing Brent Paraiso although the seasoned bench strategist no longer went into detail regarding his condition.
“Paraiso is not healthy. ‘Yung iba namin injured pa,” he said. “Unhealthy ‘yung team kaya ganun nahihirapan, tapos puro rookie ‘yung kapalit.”
Tiongco admitted that it’s been difficult keeping Terrafirma on an even keel not just due to injuries, but also because of the ongoing talks of a potential franchise sale between the team’s top brass and prospective buyer Zamboanga Valientes.
It is also the reason why the coaches no longer bothered to shop for available players in the free agent market to address their manpower problems.
“Hindi na. Alam niyo naman ‘yung reason kung ano ‘yon eh, ‘di ba,” he said with a smile. “We’re just waiting. Pero ako sinasabi ko sa kanila tapusin natin ng maayos. Keep pushing. Trabaho nila ‘yan eh.”
#WATCH: Terrafirma head coach Raymond Tiongco confirms Kemark Cariño suffered an ACL tear in practice and will be out for most of the year 🏀
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA2025 pic.twitter.com/kNIIj0DQK6
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) May 14, 2025
