by Waylon Galvez
Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok forward Marc Pingris has been patient despite the delay in his recovery after he found out that he also had a partial tear on the Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) of his left knee.
Pingris said that Dr. Raul Canlas had informed him of it following his checkup about two weeks ago.
“Nalaman ko lang na tatlo pala naging tama sa left knee ko,” said Pingris, who suffered the injury during last season's Philippine Cup semifinal series against the NLEX Road Warriors.
“Nalaman ko lang na aside sa ACL, may partial MCL tear din ako pero hindi naman inoperahan, and meniscus tear,” he added.
According to Pingris, the MCL partial tear was the reason why there was a delay on his comeback.
The veteran was supposed to return to the team’s roster prior to this season’s Philippine Cup but he and the Magnolia management did not want to rush his return to action.
For now, Pingris said he is just continuing his progress by doing some basketball-related activities such as jogging, sprinting, jumping, shooting and practicing his post up moves in preparation for the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
The native of Pangasinan said he will be re-evaluated in two weeks to determine if he will be given the green light to join the team's regular practice session.
“Kung maka-pasa ako sa test, baka mapayagan na ako,” said Pingris.
“Sobrang miss na miss ko na mag-laro, yung sigaw ng mga fans, yung excitement makapaglaro sa PBA. So hopefully maging OK na, magtuluy-tuloy na para makalaro na uli,” added Pingris.