BENILDE watched with eyes fluttering, as Lady Luck smiled on it in time for the NCAA Season 102 playoffs with Allen Liwag's return to action.
And though by no means did his first game back come in his previous dominant form, just being on the floor once more was enough for the reigning and defending back-to-back MVP.
“Sa sarili ko, gusto ko naman maglaro, kasi syempre, na-miss ko din yung basketball,” Liwag said after scoring six points and three rebounds in 15 minutes of action last Friday.
“Kahit sabihin mo na hindi siya official game, na-miss ko talaga maglaro. So kanina, sobrang gigil lang din ako.”
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As Liwag revealed, his suspected Achilles injury was actually a bone spur that dug into his heel.
Though he was given a timetable of around two months of recovery, his exact return—which heavily relied on his rehab and how far the Blazers would go as the season progressed—was always the bottom line he had prepared for.
“Base sa feeling ko, sa assessment din ni doc, mga nasa 70 to 80-percent ako. Pero yun, tina-try ko pa rin na makabalik yung rhythm ko sa court, yung court senses ko. And siyempre makabalik sa game shape kasi kakabalik ko lang din sa training,” he said.
Allen, All-in.
Without Liwag, the Blazers had performed quite well, winning eight of their 11 games.
And this is nothing but good news for the 25-year-old big, who now arrives as a big gun just waiting to be unholstered, while backing up their full arsenal of weapons.
As he put it, “Ang mentality ko lang naman ay ako kailangan yung mag-gel sa team namin kasi matagal nga ako nawala, and grabe din yung ginawa ng team habang wala ako.”
“So ako yung kailangan mag-adjust sa nilalaro nila, hindi yung sila yung mag-adjust sa akin.”
Though the Liwag of old would have felt he needed to immediately take the reins to give CSB a better shot at the title, this time, much to his delight, the Blazers have more than proven they can make it so he's no longer a one-man army
“Sinabi ko din sa mga teammates ko na parang mas madali yung trabaho ko ngayon kasi grabe na yung confidence na na-build nila sa sarili nila. So sa akin, mas madali na rin ako mag-create para sa team,” he said.
“Kumbaga, wala na akong double-thinking if ipapasa ko ba ito or what. Kasi alam ko, kumpiyansa na sila. Lalo sa defense, alam ko na maaasahan ko na din talaga sila.“
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