By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Another man down for Gilas Pilipinas.
After suffering a huge blow with the loss of leader Matt Nieto and Dave Ildefonso due to injuries, the PH national basketball men’s team received more bad news after newly-designated team captain Rey Suerte was diagnosed with an ankle sprain.
“He was recently designated as our Team Captain, so this is not good news at all. It’s unfortunate because he was also doing very well in practice. The swelling is significant,” said Gilas program director Tab Baldwin.
During Gilas Pilipinas’ scrimmage session in their Calamba bubble, Suerte unfortunately landed badly after going after the rebound.
Gilas’ trainer Dex Aseron confirmed that Suerte’s injury might be a Grade 2 or 3 ankle sprain and might take up to two weeks to recover.
With just one week left before the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers kicks off, Suerte might miss the games in Angeles City and join Ildefonso and Nieto on the sideline.
Suerte’s injury will leave a gap in the scoring column for Gilas as Ildefonso and Nieto are also offensive contributors for the team and losing three scorers is a huge blow to deal with.
“Rey has been our captain and eldest member of the team, so his maturity has been a stabilizing force in our group. He’s also an excellent three-point shooter who has a scorer’s mentality, so he has become a reliable source of points. We will miss his leadership and scoring punch in the team,” added Baldwin.
