ANTIPOLO – Terrafirma import Ryan Richards played for a mere one second during the Dyip’s blowout loss to NorthPort on Saturday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Richards was part of the starting line-up of Terrafirma, but was shortly taken off the court after a quick foul by Dyip rookie Mark Nonoy. He was replaced by Aldrech Ramos.
The 6-foot-11 Richards never returned to the game, and the Dyip played all-Filipino since then, with the official statistics showing that his playing time was one second.
READ: Sizzling NorthPort jumps Terrafirma to take second straight win
In another oddity during the early part of the game, the start of the match actually got delayed because of Richards as he was asked by the referees to remove his black undershirt because it was not the same color as their green uniform. Richards removed his undershirt in the Terrafirma dugout.
So far, Richards has been performing below-par for Terrafirma after he had 10 points on 5-for-16 shooting from the field, while also grabbing 10 rebounds in the Dyip’s loss to Converge.
When asked after the game, Terrafirma coach Raymond Tiongco said Richards was already complaining about a back injury during their practice prior to Saturday’s game.
“Actually, kahapon, sinabi na niya na hurting siya pero sinit-out ko na siya sa practice. Sabi niya, he will be fine. Nag-warm up pa siya kanina,” said Tiongco.
“Tapos bigla na lang pag-warm up, tumakbo agad ‘yung PT namin na bigla daw sumakit likod niya. Naka-suit up na talaga. Hindi ko alam kung nagdadahilan na lang. We have to adjust, nabawasan ‘yung big man."
The starters of the game are given to the table officials ahead of time and several minutes prior to tip-off, leaving Terrafirma with no choice but to keep Richards on the floor and can only be replaced during a deadball situation.
The new Terrafirma coach said he already wants a replacement for Richards, but the decision will be up to management.
“Mag-uusap kami ng management tonight. Actually, nagre-request na ako (ng import) kasi sayang ‘yung young guns ko. Sayang ‘yung core ng team, maayos naman. May Vic Manuel, Pringle, mga bata, may Terrence Romeo pa, fighting team din siya. Hopefully, pumayag at maayos namin tonight,” said Tiongco.
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