Troy Rosario is all cleared to play now.
After estimating that he might be sidelined until late February thanks to a broken nose, Rosario surprisingly showed up in Gilas Pilipinas’ practice for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers’ sixth window, Monday.
“Matagal na ‘ko binigyan ng clearance,” disclosed Rosario, who incurred the injury – which saw him bleed profusely – during his TNT KaTropa’s tuneup game versus sister team NLEX Road Warriors just before the New Year’s Day.
“Bale, inano lang ako ng coaches sa TNT na ipahinga ng one week pa kasi mas maganda na yung fully healed yung ilong kesa matamaan ulit tapos back to zero.”
Rosario has been practicing with the KaTropa for a few of days now, but admitted that he still has a lot of catching up to do as far as conditioning is concerned. The former NU Bulldog was sidelined for about two weeks.
“Wala sa kondisyon.
“Kakabalik ko lang. Nakakapag-practice na ‘ko sa TNT dalawang araw na,” the 6-foot-7 admitted.
But having to catch up won’t be an issue for the 27-year-old stretch forward, as he’s confident that he can get back into shape in just a week. Rosario even plans to suit up for TNT next week, when they face the Meralco Bolts on January 30, Wednesday.
“‘Di naman problema sa’kin yun kasi sa isang linggo kaya ko magpa-kundisyon,” said Rosario, who is averaging 4.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in five games played in the Qualifiers.
“Bale ang [plano] ko nga next week maglaro na ‘ko sa PBA.”
