ANTIPOLO – Sidney Onwubere saw action for Barangay Ginebra on Friday, after being feared to be out for the remainder of the PBA Season 46 Governors’ Cup due to an injury.
Onwubere provided a good showing in his limited time on the court, scoring nine points in nine minutes in the Gin Kings’ 109-100 win over Blackwater.
It was initially reported that Onwubere will miss the rest of the conference due to a severe high ankle sprain, but head coach Tim Cone said the recovery period proved to be fast that he was already good to go to practice a few days ago.
“We were surprised,” Cone said. “He was basically not practicing at all until about three days ago. Suddenly, he went to see the doctor and the doctor said that he looked healed. We were all surprised. He was supposedly another three weeks out. The original diagnosis was that six to eight weeks. It was only been three or four weeks.”
“We thought he will be out for much longer. We slowly tested him a little bit in one practice and he didn’t feel any pain. We did another practice. And before you know it, he was all over the place,” said Cone.
Sidney Onwubere's return is a big plus for Ginebra, which is looking to move up the leaderboard.
Cone though said he still wasn’t sure whether Onwubere can play against Blackwater.
“We didn’t know he was going to play. I asked him. He said I can play. I will try, coach. He went out and try,” said Cone.
Cone said the presence of Onwubere provided a big lift to Ginebra that has been bothered with injuries led by star guard Stanley Pringle.
“Another good step for him. You can see what he lends for us. He is another big body. He is a guy who can guard the import as well as play different positions. And he is just so active. That’s what the team wants, that active player that goes to the boards, run the floor, dive on the floor, get the loose ball. And that’s what we were missing when we didn’t have him the last four games,” said Cone.
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