ANTIPOLO – George King sat out of Blackwater’s game against Phoenix on Tuesday due to a foot injury.
Blackwater coach Jeff Cariaso said King sustained the injury during the second quarter of the Bossing’s game against Converge last Sunday, but didn’t suspect anything serious since the import still played in the second half.
Cariaso said the team only learned that King wasn’t playing against Phoenix about 30 minutes before tip-off as the high-scoring Blackwater import didn’t feel he could play full on against the Fuelmasters.
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“We didn’t know until 30 minutes before the game that he wasn't gonna play so that was already a sting to us,” said Cariaso.
“He hurt his foot in the second quarter of the last game so because he was able to still play the full second half, we didn’t think much of it,” said Cariaso. “So he did his rehab, he did his therapy, he did it yesterday. I know nag-shooting pa siya kagabi. So we went into this game thinking he was gonna play, I think.”
“But it didn’t feel right for him. So we had to go without him, and it happens,” said Cariaso.
King is leading all imports in scoring with an average of 34.5 points – scoring at least 40 in three of the team’s first four games of the conference. Against Converge, King delivered 34 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists despite the foot injury.
Fortunately, the locals stepped up for Blackwater on Tuesday with Justin Chua leading the way and veterans JVee Casio and Jewel Ponferada stepping up in the 100-92 win over Phoenix.
The Bossing improved to 3-8,with one more game left in the conference against NorthPort on Saturday.
Cariaso is hoping King can suit up by then.
“Obviously, it’s hard to win without him. We are still assuming that we are going to use the next few days to get him ready. We hope he can play on Saturday, and we will see from there,” said Cariaso.
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