AGUILAR ITCHING TO GET BACK IN ACTION
Just a day after suffering an injury and then being told to rest for four weeks, Japeth Aguilar is already expressing his desire to get back on the hardcourt.
“I hope to be back in two weeks. Hopefully, I will just need two weeks,” said the 6-9 high flying Barangay Ginebra San Miguel young star.
An MRI scan on Aguilar showed a strained MCL which according to Dr. Raul Canlas will need a month to recover.
But the Sasmuan, Pampanga cager expressed his profound desire to once again play and help Ginebra’s cause.
His agent, Matthew Manotoc, told pba.ph that they have been telling Aguilar to follow the doc’s advise.
“We told him, it’ll be fine. And if the doctor wants him to rest for a certain period of time, it’s for his own good,” said the young agent and son of former Crispa Redmanizers coach Tommy Manotoc.
“I can see how Japeth wants to play. I can even feel his desire not to let his team down. But this is a time when he needs to think of his health first,” he added.
But Manotoc believes that Aguilar’s youthfulness will be a major factor working for his immediate return.
“Let’s just pray for that (quicker recovery). He is young and freakishly athletic so I wouldn’t doubt he’ll recover quickly,” Manotoc said.
“But also, we would not want to rush the process so we can avoid future injury. I am just so glad it wasn’t a tear,” added the other half of the Espiritu-Manotoc Basketball Management agency.
Aguilar sustained the injury while he was going for a baseline dunk before the close of the first quarter of the Ginebra-Barako Bull showdown Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
If out for four weeks, Aguilar could miss the remainder of the Governors’ Cup eliminations. (SBadua)
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