GILAS Pilipinas forward Marc Pingris is ready to step up and take an added load in the aftermath of the ankle injury suffered by Ranidel de Ocampo less than a week to the Fiba-Asia Men’s Championship.
The 6-foot-5 Pingris said it pains him to see de Ocampo go down with the injury in a friendly against Kazakhstan considering they have been sweating it out for the qualifier of the World Basketball Championship for the last two months.
“Siguro doble kayod ako ngayon kaya gagawin ko lahat ng magagawa,” Pingris told Spin.ph as he looks forward of playing against Saudi Arabia on Thursday when the biggest cage meet in Asia official kicks off at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“Disappointed din lang kasi sa tune-up game pa na-injure si Ranidel,” he added.
“Siyempre, nag-training na kami sa Lithuania at New Zealand. Masakit para sa isang player `yung ma-injure pa. But hopefully, gumaling agad siya,” added the bruising forward of San Mig Coffee.
De Ocampo didn’t practice with the national team on Saturday evening at the MOA Arena as his doctor advised him to refrain from engaging in any basketball-related activity for three days.
But the three-point shooting big man from Talk ‘N Text is racing to be fit for opening day as he shares the same `4’ spot with Pingris.
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