Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero allayed fears of the team adding yet another name to its injury list after Ian Sangalang sat out their PBA Governors’ Cup meeting with Meralco, Wednesday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The champion mentor said that the Hotshots took Dr. George Canlas’ advice for the 6-foot-7 slotman to rest after suffering a minor knee issue following their game against San Miguel last Sunday, which they won, 100-90.
“According to Doc Canlas, medyo ipahinga lang namin ngayon, para lang hindi ma-aggravate masyado ‘yung naramdaman niya,” he said.
“Okay naman na si Ian, but gusto lang naming maging kaunting conservative doon sa injury niya, kasi namaga after ng San Miguel game,” Victolero added.
“Meron lang siyang kaunting pananakit doon sa tuhod niya.”
It was actually the first time in this conference that Sangalang missed a game. And his crew badly missed him, as evidenced by their slow start that eventually saw them trail by 16 points early in the third quarter.
But the ever-feisty troika of Paul Lee, Mark Barroca, and Jio Jalalon, together with the contributions of Mike Harris and new guy Adrian Wong, made things happen as Magnolia went on to snatch the 88-85 victory.
Making it all the more gratifying is that the Hotshots have also secured a twice-to-beat advantage for the quarterfinals with the win.
“Our goal is to go to the playoffs, to the quarters. I think na-achieve namin ‘yun last game. And then the next goal is to get the twice-to-beat advantage, which is I think, nakuha namin ngayon,” said Victolero.
The former Coach of the Year assured that Sangalang will be available to play on Sunday, as they go up against Alaska at 4:00 p.m.
“Ian is ready to play on Sunday,” said Victolero. “Napag-usapan din namin na according to my PTs, mas maganda na i-rest na so he can be back on Sunday … I think by tomorrow, by Friday he can practice na with us.”
Possibly returning to the fold against the Aces as well is 3-and-D specialist Rome Dela Rosa, who’s been out due to a hamstring injury.
“Si Rome might be (able to) play on Sunday. Nag-start na siyang mag-court practice. And by Friday siguro, he can join practice,” Victolero said.
Calvin Abueva, meanwhile, may have to wait for a while before he comes back, although he could be in the playoffs that’s just two weeks from now.
“Calvin, I think, starting by next week, early next week, baka maka join na siya 5-on-0 sa amin, and after that siguro, hopefully he can play in our last game,” said Victolero.
“But if not, definitely, he can play in the playoffs.”
—
All PBA games stream live on GigaPlay. Download it now on Android or IOS.
The second game of each playdate is also livestreamed on SMART Sports.
