MANILA, Philippines — Terrafirma’s winless and troubling start for PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup only got worse as veteran shooting guard Juami Tiongson sustained a partial tear on his adductors in his left leg.
The 33-year-old PBA Most Improved Player in 2021 sustained the injury during the first half of the Dyip’s Sunday match against the Magnolia Hotshots.
“According to our PT (physiotherapist), (I’ll be out) two to four weeks,” Tiongson told the Manila Times, hours after his MRI scan (magnetic resonance imaging) result came out on Monday.
The former Ateneo gunner played just nine minutes in their 124-103 loss to the Hotshots and went scoreless with just an assist before leaving the game for good.
Terrafirma coach John Cardel is taking the latest challenge in stride, noting that the focus now is how everyone could work together, starting with offseason acquisitions Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle.
“We are not giving up with this team even if we lost a key player to injury in Juami, who’ll be out for the conference” Cardel said in Filipino, as his team remains winless in four starts.
Cardel added that the two PBA stars are doing everything they can to work and adjust within the system given the new playing environment.
“For sure, both of them are adjusting to the new system since the came from Ginebra, so new system for them,” he added.
By Tuesday, Cardel also mentioned they intend to evaluate import Antonio Hester’s performance, noting the American import’s season-low output of just two points and five rebounds. Hester, the hulking import, who is in his second tour of duty for the Dyip, played just 12 minutes against the Hotshots.
“I don’t why,” Cardel said, at a loss at Hester’s lackluster effort that forced him to just pull out the former Miami Dade and Mobile standout in the game early and leave the Dyip playing all-Filipino for a big part of the game against the Hotshots.
“The coaches will talk tomorrow (Tuesday), and I’ll also talk to Antonio, and try to clear thing up with him,” said Cardel, who just last season steered the Terrafirma back to the playoffs in the Philippine Cup, the first time the franchise did the trick since the 2016 Governors’ Cup.