STANLEY Pringle’s much-awaited return game could come on Sunday during Barangay Ginebra’s season-opener against Blackwater.
Stanley Pringle injury update
Pringle hasn’t played since December 12, 2021 against Alaska at the start of last season’s Governors’ Cup but head coach Tim Cone said the 2020 Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference is now on pace for a return.
“I think Stanley still needs to build strength,” said Cone. “He doesn’t have pain anymore but he doesn’t have his full explosiveness yet, his superior quickness that he shows all the time. He just looks a little bit of a half-step slow than he did in the past.”
“Trainers tell us that he just needs more time to continue to strengthen so he can play. But the injury itself, he is a hundred percent. But his game, I don’t think it’s 100 percent there yet. He is still working. I’d say more about 85, 90 percent at this point. He still has a lot of room to grow,” said Cone.
The Gin Kings open their season with a clash against the Bossing on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City on the heels of their successful championship victory over Meralco in the Governors’ Cup.
But Ginebra struggled during its Philippine Cup campaign in the 2021-2022 season, as it barely made it to the quarterfinals and lost to eventual champion TNT in the quarterfinals.
Japeth Aguilar, meanwhile, is about to recover from the calf injury he sustained during the PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs following a lengthy rest.
“Japeth seems to be fine. It was a calf pull. You always worry about calf pull later on. They can recur. But I think he’s had enough rest. And he continues to rehab and strengthen all the time. Right now, he is very near 100 percent,” said Cone.
“They will be good to go in the first game,” said Cone, referring to Pringle and Aguilar.
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