Gilas Pilipinas to miss June Mar Fajardo in SEA Games gold hunt
MANILA, Philippines – The last remnant of Gilas Pilipinas’ shocking silver-medal finish in the Southeast Asian Games will no longer take part in the Philippines’ redemption bid.
National team head coach Chot Reyes said on Wednesday, April 26, that June Mar Fajardo has been ruled out for the upcoming SEA Games to be hosted by Cambodia in May as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.
Fajardo sustained the injury while playing for San Miguel in the East Asia Super League in March and missed the latter part of the PBA Governors’ Cup, where the Beermen suffered a semifinal exit.
“He is not a hundred percent so why risk it, right? We don’t want something bad to happen to him,” said Reyes in a mix of Filipino and English.
Fajardo was one of the few bright spots when Gilas Pilipinas failed to bring home a 14th straight gold medal following a stunning 85-81 loss to Indonesia in the Vietnam SEA Games last year, scoring 20 points in the defeat.
He and TNT guard Roger Pogoy were the only two holdovers from the Vietnam squad included in the 28-man pool for the Cambodia SEA Games.
The two, however, were bitten by the injury bug in the lead-up to the regional showpiece, with Pogoy going down with a fractured finger during the Governors’ Cup finals.
Reyes said the team is preserving Fajardo for the FIBA World Cup, which the country will co-host with Indonesia and Japan in August.
“The big picture is the World Cup. We don’t want to jeopardize June Mar’s readiness,” Reyes said.
Without Fajardo, Reyes leans on the likes of Christian Standhardinger, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Mason Amos, and Mike Phillips to plug the hole in the middle.
Gilas Pilipinas will enter training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna on Sunday, April 30, before the team flies to Cambodia on May 6.
The SEA Games basketball competition will run from May 9 to 16. – Rappler.com