DWIGHT Ramos assured that he will be good to go once the next Gilas Pilipinas bubble opens for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup in August.
The 6-foot-4 guard bared in a SPIN Zoom In livecast that he has fully recovered from the strained groin which forced him to sit out Gilas games against Serbia and Dominican Republic in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade.
"It's been a couple of weeks already since the Korea game and that's where I hurt it. It's been a couple of weeks already and I've sort of just rested and done rehab exercises with Coach Dex [Aseron], our PT, so it's in good shape now."
Ramos was sorely missed in the Serbia trip as he felt helpless on the bench and left the cudgels to fellow guards Jordan Heading, SJ Belangel, and RJ Abarrientos.
Many people expected big things from him after he averaged 13.8 points on 43-percent shooting from threes, along with 6.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 steals in 25.3 minutes in Gilas' six wins in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.
But the Fil-Am slasher bared that he was actually fighting through the pain for the entirety of the Clark bubble after hurting his groin in the pulsating 81-78 win over Korea back in June 16.
"In the first Korea game, I actually felt something but I thought it was just soreness. But then in the second game [against Korea], I just jumped in and I felt something in my leg. There was only like three minutes left and I just finished the game. That night, I started feeling it. It was just giving me trouble," he said.
That pain continued in the ensuing days, which led to him sitting out the tuneup game against China as well as both games in Belgrade.
"Right after I heard it, it was kind of hard to walk and open my legs. And then being cramped on the plane, it kinda didn't really help too much with that, and it took a little longer than I expected," he said.
Though Gilas hoped for the best in the OQT, the pain was just too much for Ramos to bear.
"I think we were hoping that it would be fine for the OQT, but I just wasn't there yet. Maybe it was a week later, when I was able to play but I just wasn't there yet," he lamented as he was stuck on the bench for Gilas' 83-76 defeat to Serbia and a 94-67 loss to Dominican Republic.
Ramos, however, assured that he's back in tip-top shape and should be ready for the continental showpiece in August.
"I should be ready for the next bubble already pretty soon, so I should be good to go," he said.
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