Troy Rosario has re-aggravated the finger injury he suffered four months ago during Gilas Pilipinas’ clash with India in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Friday.
With 6:16 left in the contest and Gilas holding a 74-52 lead, the 6-foot-7 big man who plays for TNT asked to be subbed out, nursing his left hand.
It was just last October when Rosario suffered a dislocated finger.
Back then, he continued to play for TNT in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup. This time around, he is most likely to sit out Gilas’ clash against New Zealand on Sunday.
“Troy has been playing with a dislocated finger that he suffered in Game Three of the last Finals and he never had that surgically repaired,” said Gilas head coach Chot Reyes after their 88-64 win.
“He was waiting until after the season to get it surgically repaired so that just aggravated.”
Besides Rosario, also going down in the game was Angelo Kouame.
(C) Paul Ryan Tan/FIBA Asia
Kouame went down with 4:52 left, holding his foot. Apparently, it was just a classic case of the cramps as he and the three Gilas cadets have not played a competitive game since August of last year during the 2021 King Abdullah Cup.
“For Ange, I think it was just a case of cramps.
” He hasn’t played competitive games since August of last year so a lot of these guys [Ange, Will], haven’t played competitive games since then so that’s another thing. We have to get back into the groove of playing actual competitive games,” he said.
Rosario played 16 minutes in the contest, tallying two points and six rebounds, Kouame, meanwhile, produced six points, nine rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 24 minutes of play.
Still, Reyes is looking to close out the window with one goal — continuing the development of this batch of Gilas.
“We’re not thinking of the fact that we have qualified, we’re coming into these games, I’ve said this before, with a twin purpose. We want to be competitive. We want to win the games but always with a view towards the development, always with a view to the long term.”
With reports from Jeremy Chua
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All Group A games of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers will stream live on GigaPlay. Download it now on Android or IOS.
The second game of each playdate is also livestreamed on SMART Sports.
