Barangay Ginebra San Miguel could play minus the high-flying Japeth Aguilar today as it battles the Phoenix Fuel Masters in another PBA Philippine Cup game at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Aguilar suffered a hyperextended right elbow after completing a dunk in the second quarter Ginebra’s 99-90 victory over the Blackwater Elite two days ago at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Worries over the gravity of his injury was a bit dampened yesterday after Aguilar’s agent Matthew Manotoc tweeted that there was no fracture on his elbow, which could mean a quick return to the Ginebra lineup.
However, his status for tonight’s 6:45 p.m. match remains a question mark, and no person is more worried than coach Tim Cone, whose team is already without center Greg Slaughter due to an ACL injury.
“He’s a big part of what we do,” Cone said after Friday’s game. “Obviously it’s going to be tough losing him, and also have Greg in sick bay.”
Cone, however, hopes to see his other big men step up like in Friday’s game where Dave Marcelo and Jervy Cruz were able to fill the void following Aguilar’s injury.
“It’s always the next man up,” he said. “Tonight, the next man up was Dave and Jervy, they stepped up and played a great role for us in terms of replacing Japeth.”
The win put Ginebra in a share of third to sixth with TNT KaTropa, Rain or Shine and Phoenix at 5-4, thus their match giving the winner a big boost in the race for the second twice-to-beat advantage.
San Miguel was playing GlobalPort, which at presstime is in second at 5-3, last night in an out-of-town game in Lapu-Lapu City. A loss by the Batang Pier would create more complications.
Out to score an upset over the favored Ginebra squad is Phoenix, which is coming off a 102-91 victory over NLEX last Wednesday.
Phoenix coach Ariel Vanguardia, however, seemed to be resigned to the prospect of getting the twice-to-beat since its lopsided defeats earlier in the conference may hurt their chances in case of a tiebreaker.
“Yung mga ka-tie namin sa 5-4, tinalo kami,” said Vanguardia. “Star beat us by 44. Right now, we are virtually tied with them but we are still in seventh or eighth place.”
Alaska plays Mahindra in the first game at 4:30 p.m. with the Aces looking to bounce back from last week’s 103-100 loss to Blackwater at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Aces are tied for eighth with the Star Hotshots at 4-4 after blowing their chance of climbing up in the standings.
Mahindra, with a 2-6 record, is in a must-win situation as another loss will make it more difficult for them to catch up in the playoff race.