CHICAGO - If you're wondering whether Jamie Malonzo is injured, don't hold your breath.
Other than perhaps a bruised ego from being benched for two straight games in the ongoing 2025 FIBA Asia Cup, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2020 PBA Rookie Draft is just fine.
In fact, Gilas Pilipinas and SBP sources told me that the 6-foot-7, 210-lb. forward has been practicing with the team before and after arriving in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
READ Jamie Malonzo's 'DNP' in Chinese Taipei loss was coach's decision
A mere 30 days ago, Malonzo moved like a gazelle for 31 minutes of play and erupted for 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting in Game Seven of the Philippine Cup semifinals where San Miguel edged Ginebra, 100-93.
So yeah, all signs point to a healthy, in-shape, and well-conditioned Malonzo.
Mysteriously, though, the Fil-Am from Seattle has been benched in Gilas' losses to Chinese Taipei and New Zealand - twin debacles that have left our country's hopes for a podium finish in dire straits.
RETALIATION FOR LEAVING?
Gilas coach Tim Cone hasn't addressed the matter publicly. His silence is not only deafening, it has become fodder for misinformation.
Here's an attempt to unravel the puzzle.
Eight days ago, Malonzo signed with Kyoto Hannaryz of the Japan B.League. leaving behind Ginebra, a PBA team also coached by Cone.
Is this retribution, a case of hell hath no fury than a coach spurned?
Maybe.
While Malonzo rested and rehabbed for nine months following a lower leg injury, Ginebra rallied behind its star and supported him through the agonizing stages of rehabilitation only to turn his back on the Gin Kings for a boatload of money.
I'd be mad, too, if I were Cone, but his personal feelings should be beneath the interests of the national team. And by icing Malonzo, a versatile wing who thrives in Cone's favored triangle offense, Gilas was put in a lesser position to win.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY.
"We could have used him. Sayang," a Gilas player told me on the phone yesterday. "Pero hindi namin i-question ang authority ni coach Cone."
As fans, though, we can.
While Cone can run Ginebra, a private entity, however he chooses, he has some accountability with his actions as leader of Gilas, which is OUR national team, the one that bears the Philippine flag and to which millions of Filipinos have invested time, sweat and tears for generations.
At the very least, Cone needs to explain why Malonzo, a PBA champion and a two-time All-Star in his prime at age 29, had suddenly become a useless participant in a crucial Fiba window?
No surprise Cone is now being accused of a crime against basketball logic. Gilas hardliners can also claim he has betrayed the position of trust the federation had given him.
I still like Tim Cone and respect his body of work but seeing how Gilas is slowly regressing it's hard not to miss Tab Baldwin.
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