Austria not forcing Fajardo to play: ‘What’s important is he gets 100%
Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
San Miguel coach Leo Austria said that San Miguel is staying cautious in handling in June Mar Fajardo’s knee injury despite a 0-2 deficit in the 2016 Smart Bro Philippine Cup finals.
Fajardo sat out for the second straight game on Tuesday night as he continues to recover from a swollen left knee he incurred in the semifinals.
“Yung kanyang swelling of the knee, on and off, kaya we didn’t want him to get here cause it might not help in his recovery,” said Austria.
The affable coach said that the Cebuano giant has been frustrated with the entire situation, but Austria said that Fajardo’s health is top priority and he’s not risking further injury by forcing him to play.
“He really wants to play, but I told him we could sacrifice the championship as long as hindi mapo-prolong yung injury mo. Ok lang sa amin.”
“There are so many championships ahead of him. I think everybody from the management understands his situation,” he continued. “This is only a championship, and after this, we have another conference. We have a second and third, baka magkaroon ulit kami ng two out of three, so you can never know. What’s important is for June Mar to get 100-percent. We will not force him to play, unless he’s forcing himself dahil sya ang nakakaramdam.”
Austria admits that the whole team is hoping that Fajardo can still play, but if that means aggravating his injured left knee, the Beermen would rather slug it out against Alaska without the big man.
“I hope magkaroon ng miracle, but kung di sya makakalaro, I don’t want him to go with us. We don’t want to delay his recovery,” he said.
Austria is also looking at the bigger picture, saying that there are other things which can benefit with Fajardo’s extended recovery.
“The way I see it, he’s not 100-percent so with his situation, he won’t help the team. I’m sure he will try, but I don’t want to take any risks. The future of Philippine basketball is with June Mar, especially in international competition, and also the future of San Miguel.”
Still, Austria believes that the Beermen can weather the 0-2 series deficit.
“I think this story is not yet finished. There might be another turnaround. We can never know what will happen. As long as there is a chance to win, di kami mawawalan ng pag-asa,” he said.
Needing all the help it could get, San Miguel may just get the boost it needs with Game 3 being staged in Lucena at the Quezon Convention Center on Friday.
Austria, a native of Sariaya, Quezon, will find himself coaching in front of his home town crowd and is wishing that his fellow natives will back the Beermen as they try to fight for their lives.
“I hope na makatulong yung homecourt advantage and the crowd will cheer us.”
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