Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Japeth Aguilar said he’s slowly making strides in his continuing recovery from a calf injury but gave no timetable on a potential return during the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
Aguilar showed up in complete uniform but did not to see action in Game 2 which saw the Gin Kings pull out a 99-93 win over the Meralco Bolts before 12,248 fans Friday, April 8 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
He had missed the last five games after hurting his calf in Ginebra’s win over NLEX in the opener of the semifinals last March 23.
“Patuloy naman yung pag-heal niya so we're just really trying to buy a bit more time kasi healing talaga yung kailangan,” Aguilar said.
“I just suited up because gusto ko ma-feel gradually to be back in the game, with the team,” continued Aguilar, adding that a possible appearance in Game 3 will still depend on his progress.
In the event he sees action for the first time, Aguilar said he’ll try to provide a valuable contribution as possible as Ginebra looks to beat Meralco for a fourth time in as many finals meetings in the reinforced tournament.
“If ever I get to play I'm gonna be all out,” he said. “Hindi ko siya masyado iisipin because pag inisip mo baka lalo ka pang ano. Just trying to do the best I can para mabigyan ng konting break mga players. I mean bahala na.”
Coach Tim Cone said the prospect of getting Aguilar back on the hardcourt will help a great deal for players like import Justin Brownlee and Christian Standhardinger.
“We're going to have to let him feel his way through,” Cone said. “But the problem is, the games are so crucial that you can’t let him really feel his way through. So it puts the coaching staff in a difficult situation.
“But we also know what kind of impact Japeth can make. If he can get on the floor and if he feels good, he's a huge, huge impact player. He changes the way we defend. He gives us versatility in terms of what we can do offensively.
“And we're able to give Justin and Christian a big or bigger break out there on the floor and be a little deeper with Japeth,” he added.