SMART CLARK GIGA CITY – Japeth Aguilar admitted he wasn't exactly in playing form when he entered the PBA bubble to join Barangay Ginebra in the Philippine Cup.
The veteran big man said he was inactive for two months following the incident in which he was caught playing in a five-on-five pickup game in violation of health protocols put in place by the government amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was fined P20,000 by the league for the infraction, ordered to undergo RT-PCR testing, was quarantined for 14 days, and went through a confirmatory swab testing.

The experience, which he said was 'an unexpected thing,' left him a bit traumatized that he didn’t restart his conditioning program until the league bubble at Clark was about ready to begin.
“Conditioning ako nahirapan. May mga doubts din na pumapasok sa akin,” he said. “But right, it’s all about mental talaga.”
Not totally in shape, Aguilar didn’t join the Kings until four days before the restart of the season. He only had the benefit of practicing with the team just twice before plunging into action right away in a 102-92 win over NLEX on opening day.
“Parang nagmamadali (ako) para mabalik yung rhythm and condition. Nag-try akong humabol. Tyinaga ko lang talaga,” he said.

Slowly but surely, the 33-year-old Aguilar is getting his timing back as shown in the Kings’ 102-80 rout of the Terrafirma Dyip at the Angeles University Foundation gym on Monday night.
Aguilar finished with a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds. He was also a perfect 10-of-10 from the field.
The win helped the Kings formally clinch the No. 1 spot in the playoffs for a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals on an 8-3 record.
And good for the Kings, Aguilar is just getting started.
“Maganda ito entering the playoffs, kumbaga gusto ko lang maging mataas yung morale ng team,” he said.
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