ANTIPOLO CITY – Sedrick Barefield valiantly continues to carry the load for Blackwater despite a shoulder injury which he sustained during the offseason.
Although very likely playing hurt, the sophomore Fil-Am guard still led the Bossing with 33 points in a losing cause against the Converge FiberXers, 99-94, in a PBA Philippine Cup Season 50 game over the weekend at the Ynares Center.
Barefield, who currently leads the league in scoring with a 23.8-point average through five games, scored 20 in the opening half as he knocked down five three pointers, grabbed three rebounds, and dished off five assists, while getting the better of his shootout with fellow Converge guard Alec Stockton.
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Still, those numbers proved not enough to save Blackwater, which tumbled to their fifth straight loss in six outings.
Last season’s No. 2 overall pick said his shoulder hurt a couple of times during the game, an indication the injury hasn’t fully healed since sustaining it during a preseason tournament in Davao last August.
“I’m doing everything I can to make sure it’s activated before the game so that there would be no pain. But right now, I’m just playing through it,” he said of the injury that forced him to miss the Bossing’s season opener against the Terrafirma Dyip.
As per his estimate, he’s playing at 70 percent and doesn’t see himself recovering 100 percent the rest of the conference.
“At this point, I don’t think it would be at 100 percent anytime this conference,” said the 28-year-old California native. “But once I get a few weeks after the conference, I hope I’ll get better.”
The good news is that he does not need surgery to fix the injury.
“Just strengthening, just a little bit of time to heal, and some rest,” he said.
Despite the physical pain, Barefield tried to carry the Bossing past the FiberXers, although three empty possessions in the final seconds doomed Blackwater’s chances.
“We still have room to grow. I think if we handle endgame situatiions better, I think we’ll be a better team,” he said.
“That’s a good team (Converge). Probably, a championship contending team. So I think there’s a lot of growth (in that game), although it wasn’t the result that we wanted.”
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