LA Salle suffered a double-blackeye in its UAAP Season 81 opener on Sunday as New Zealand’s Taane Samuel hurt his foot in the loss to Far Eastern University.
"I just landed on someone's foot and it just tweaked. I'm in a lot of pain right now," explained the 6-foot-8 slotman as he aggravated his injury.
Samuel registered two points and two rebounds in only five minutes of play.
Expectations were high for Samuel coming into the season, but coach Louie Gonzalez bared that his rookie was already dealing with a stress fracture on his left foot in the offseason.
"May stress fracture eh. At first, I took the chance kasi ok naman siya sa mga practices namin. Then ayun, kanina talagang bumigay na," the first-year mentor shared.
Samuel limped his way out of the Mall of Asia Arena and expressed frustration with the way his first UAAP game ended.
"Very (disappointing). We've been working hard these past few months, pushing each other and getting in shape. It was so early in the game and it hurts man," said the 19-year-old center.
"I have to have it checked now, but it's not going to slow anything down. It is what it is. Gotta keeping pushing though."
If Samuel does get diagnosed with a stress fracture, he may be out of commission for the Green Archers for the next six to eight months.
La Salle aims to chalk one in the win column when it faces Adamson on Saturday.
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