CHRIS Banchero has yet to join his first official scrimmage with new team Phoenix.
The Fil-Italian guard remains in the US with his family as he awaits to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 before returning to the country.
According to coach Topex Robinson, Banchero won’t receive his second dose of the vaccine until the end of May.
As it is, he already missed the first week of the Fuel Masters’ 5-on-5 practices in Batangas City which started last May 19.
But Phoenix management has no issue with it, since it concerns the health and safety of the player it acquired in the trade that brought Calvin Abueva to Magnolia.
“He left for the States to be vaccinated there. Siyempre the priority is the health of the family and the player, so we let him go,” said Robinson.
It just so happened too, that upon Banchero’s US departure, there still has no clear scenario yet on when scrimmages will be finally allowed.
“Before we let him go, wala pa yung everything that transpired. This was the time when medyo hindi pa clear kung ano yung schedule,” said Robinson.
The PBA didn’t get the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to officially start team practices until May 7.
At the latest, Banchero could be back in the country by the first week of June.
Add to that the quarantine period he has to follow, and most likely, the 6-foot-1 playmaker would be practicing with his new team just before the projected opening of the Philippine Cup, tentatively on the final week of June.
“So we’re looking at him to be (here) siguro a week before the opening,” said Robinson.
But the Phoenix coach isn’t concerned about the playing form of the 32-year-old Banchero, who has been diligently attending the team’s Zoom workouts during the time cluster practices were disallowed after the NCR Plus area was put under a stricter lockdown.
“When he was here, Ok naman. And he’s working out din naman there in the States and he’s old enough naman to take care of himself. So walang problema,” said Robinson.
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