Basketball
Broken finger won’t stop Marc Pingris
AKTV/Paolo Papa
Marc Pingris was unusually quiet after B-MEG practice on Thursday afternoon. Apart from the Llamados taking a serious tone after their 82-66 victory over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters the previous evening to take a 3-2 series lead in the Commissioner’s Cup semifinals, Sakuragi remained in a lot of pain because of his broken left ring finger.
“Fracture daw, sabi ng mga duktor,” he said.
“Kagabi, hindi masyadong masakit, kasi nilagyan ng anesthesia. Ngayon, sobrang sakit, hindi nga ako nakatulog kagabi.”
Pingris doesn’t even remember the play wherein he broke his finger. “Nakita ko na lang bigla, baluktot na,” he said.
After seeing his finger gruesomely dislocated, Pingris quickly pulled it back in place.
“Sabi nga ng duktor, buti na lang naibalik ko agad, kung hindi mas mahihirapan pa ako.”
Pingris left the game in the first quarter to get treatment for his finger, before returning late in the second half. He was instrumental in anchoring the B-MEG defense, often guarding hulking Talk ‘N Text import Donnell Harvey to give Denzel Bowles a break. His only two basket of the game, in the fourth quarter, gave the Llamados an 11-point lead that broke the game wide open.
Despite the pain, Pingris participated in all of B-MEG’s drills, and plans to start in Game Six. His finger hasn’t been put in a cast yet, because he’s planning to take shots to ease the pain before the game. He’s hoping to help B-MEG clinch the series in six games, to prevent any notion of a Talk ‘N Text comeback.
“Kailangan tapusin na namin bukas. Yung Talk ‘N Text kasi, dun magaling kapag [do-or-die].”
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