Magnolia is one with Meralco in praying for Raymond Almazan’s speedy recovery after sustaining an ankle injury in Game Two of their 2021 PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series, Wednesday evening.
Hotshots head coach Chito Victolero is among those wishing that everything will turn out fine for the 6-foot-8 big man, who got hurt less than four minutes into the third canto following an awkward landing off a rebound play.
Photo by PBA Images
“Our prayers also to Raymond because kasama natin sa trabaho ‘yan. Hopefully, maka-recover siya,” said the youthful bench tactician.
The 32-year-old was so in pain that he had to be carried by his fellow Bolts en route to the bench. He no longer checked back into the game, and he helplessly witnessed his side suffer yet another big blow.
With just 1:22 left in the same period, his team lost another big man in Cliff Hodge due to a flagrant foul penalty one against Calvin Abueva. It led to his ejection as he already got slapped with a technical foul previously.
Magnolia then pounced on their disarmed counterparts to take the 92-78 victory – and, more importantly, the 2-0 series lead.
But while the two players’ early exit served as a big break for the Hotshots, Victolero insisted that he and his charges still kept in mind the remaining Bolts. After all, they hold their opponents to a high regard.
“Of course, it’s a big factor. They are key players eh.
“It’s a break sa amin, but of course hindi naman kami doon naka-focus. Alam namin na kahit sino sa Meralco can step up eh,” said the 2018 Coach of the Year.
And Magnolia will carry the same mindset heading into Friday’s Game Three, whether or not Almazan suits up.
“Hindi kami pwedeng mag-relax. We’ll try to push hard, as long as meron kaming limang kalaban doon,” Victolero said.
“‘Yun ang usapan namin eh, from start to finish. We learned from our experience before.”
