THE Philippine men’s basketball team won’t be having one of its pillars at the post come the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.
Six-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo is doubtful for the biennial meet that kicks off next week as he continues to recover from the MCL injury he suffered last month.
“Baka di ako makakalaro sa SEA Games. Hindi pa kasi ako nakapag-practice,” the 6-foot-9 Fajardo curtly said on Wednesday.
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Fajardo, who went down with the injury during the East Asia Super League (EASL) Champions Week, is the latest player from the Gilas pool to skip the Cambodia meet after Fil-Ams Jamie Malonzo and Mikey Williams begged off due to personal reasons.
“Huge effect,” said national coach Chot Reyes as the team tries to cram in its final week of practice prior to its departure to Cambodia next week.
With Fajardo likely out, the team is left with Christian Standhardinger, Raymund Almazan, Poy Erram, Japeth Aguilar, and Brandon Ganuelas Rosser as the bigs Gilas could count on as it tries to regain the basketball gold it lost to Indonesia during the Vietnam edition of the SEA Games last year.
Aguilar however, is also not yet 100 percent healthy as he’s also recovering from an MCL sprain, although he already played sparingly during the recent Governors’ Cup finals between Barangay Ginebra and TNT.
Fajardo was with the Gilas team that finished runner-up to Indonesia at the 2022 Vietnam Games.
Shooting guard Roger Pogoy, who was also part of last year’s team, earlier was ruled out of a return stint after suffering a fractured pinkie during the Governors Cup finals.
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