CHICAGO - Despite the media hype and his own lofty expectations, Divine Adili didn't quite hurdle the high bar of expectations in his debut with the Ateneo Blue Eagles last Saturday.
Although the foreign student athlete was instrumental in Ateneo's 86-83 overtime thriller over FEU, his triple-single of seven points, five rebounds and three assists didn't exactly invoke fear around the rest of the UAAP.
In other words, Adili was far less divine.
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But that wasn't because of nerves or lack of skills.
According to multiple sources, Adili has a "prolapsed disc" that prohibited him from practicing with the team the entire week leading to the opening of Season 88.
To address the inflammation which triggered pain and discomfort on the lower back area, Adili had to be administered with a medication that required a needle before he was allowed to play.
DIVINE COURAGE.
The coaching staff, I was told, capped his playing time at 10 minutes but Adili soldiered through what was described as a "courageous 21 minutes and 23 seconds."
A prolapsed disc, also known as a slipped or herniated disc, according to WebMD, "occurs when the soft inner material of a spinal disc pushes through a tear in the outer shell, potentially pressing on nearby nerves."
Unless the non-invasive methods of medication and physical therapy do not provide relief, surgery is not always warranted in this type of injury.
Fortunately for the Blue Eagles, Season 88 encompasses only a few months and there is confidence that the team's excellent medical staff can manage Adili's erring disc throughout the course of the tournament.
Because the current rules don't allow fielding a replacement FSA, there is no Plan B at Katipunan. Just a lot of hope and prayer.
HACK-A-COLLINS.
After smashing UP with a dominant 29-point-17-rebound performance yesterday, I will resist the temptation to over praise UST's Collins Akowe.
The season is young and I'm sure teams are scouting him hard now trying to devise schemes to slow down the 6-foot-10 behemoth.
Akowe is unstoppable when he gets the ball deep. He needs to be double-teamed quick and forced to go to his left. Still not a guarantee because he is extremely nimble for his size.
But like most great bigs, the free throw stripe is his kryptonite.
He went 11-of-21 from the charity stripe against UP. Fouling him when he's down deep and letting him earn his points might not be a bad idea.
The purists would cry foul on such a strategy but letting Akowe run amok in the paint is just as foul.
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