Barroca gets cut, needs five stiches: ‘Like Pacquiao punched my eye’
Mark Barroca got more than what he bargained for when Star fought Mahindra on Wednesday.
The shifty guard incurred a nasty cut above his right eye which needed five stitches, reminiscent of Manny Pacquiao’s cuts he sustained during his boxing career. Incidentally, Pacquiao is the playing coach for Mahindra.
“Mas masama pa yung mukha nya kay Pacquiao,” said coach Jason Webb.
“Parang lumaban ako at nasuntok ni Manny yung mata ko,” Barroca joked.
Barroca went down after Karl Dehesa, who was trying to break free from his defense, inadvertently scratched him at the 7:17 mark of the first period. But that didn’t deter him returning midway in the second period and finished the game.
“You guys are gonna see it. He could probably only see off one eye but the guy played his heart out,” said Webb.
But there is a method do Barroca’s madness, and with the Hotshots on a virtual knockout game, he knew his team could not afford to miss one more player.
“Gusto ko talaga maglaro na. Nahihilo pa ako, pero kailangan ko maglaro kasi kulang kami,” he said, noting the injuries to James Yap, Alex Mallari, and Ronald Pascual thinned out the team’s guard rotation.
“Kailangan din namin ng players kasi puro bigs ang maglalaro eh. Sa mind ko, kailangan ko bumalik kasi kaya ko naman. Sabi ko talaga kay coach, gusto kong pumasok kasi wala namang namamatay sa ganyan. Laro lang yan.”
Though his efforts could not be seen in the stat sheets, his contributions truly were significant in helping Star snare that eighth spot with an 86-73 win.
“Gusto kong makabalik kasi yung responsibility ko sa team, malaki. Di man ako maka-shoot, pero yung leadership ko, to create offense para sa mga kasama ko, nagagawa ko pa rin. At least, nagawa ko na madala sila sa tamang posisyon kasi minsan, magulo kami. Pero nung naka-run sila, nagawa naming kumalma,” Barroca said.
And the win just lessens the pain for former FEU Tamaraw as the Hotshots now shift their focus to the playoffs.
“Happy ako kasi at least nanalo kami. Ganito man yung nangyari, nanalo naman kami so masaya pa rin.”
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