Malonzo makes ‘amazing’ return

After sitting out for nearly a year, Jamie Malonzo finally made an “amazing” return when Barangay Ginebra buried Blackwater in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup last Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

The high-flying forward from De La Salle University looked fit and deadly, dropping eight points in almost 11 minutes of action to help the Kings book an impressive 86-63 victory over the Bossing.

His return was punctuated after the Kings forced a turnover that led to a thunderous dunk off a Scottie Thompson assist in the 2:39 mark of the third quarter.

“It was amazing, honestly,” said the 28-year-old Malonzo, whose last game was on 14 April of last year when he suffered a calf injury against NorthPort.

“I feel like I’ve been waiting for a while for this day. It’s a good feeling for sure.”

Malonzo’s road to recovery was littered with frustrations.

After requiring surgery, he underwent a lengthy rehabilitation process that prompted him to miss several important tournaments both for the Kings and Gilas Pilipinas, including the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia last July.

He was supposed to suit up when the Kings faced San Miguel Beer last week, but coach Tim Cone opted to give him several more days to regain his conditioning.

“It’s been a long, long road for him,” said Cone, referring to the 6-foot-7 winger.

“We watched him from the side and seen the work he’s done so it’s just a culmination of his hard work getting back to the lineup.”

“We’ll try to continue to monitor his minutes for the next few games. Hopefully, it’ll increase incrementally as the games come along.”

Cone stressed that he almost deployed Malonzo when they faced NorthPort last Wednesday, but he suffered another injury setback.

“He was supposed to play in our last game against NorthPort but he was sick. He got the flu. The flu bug went around our team,” Cone said.

Malonzo admitted that it was a jittery start but he’s now glad that he was able to return and contribute to Ginebra’s quest for the title of this midseason tournament.

“To be honest, I was nervous for myself at first. But then again, after I was in the air, I was like ‘okay, it’s gonna go on.’ So it ended up turning okay,” added Malonzo, who is expected to ramp up his work load as the tournament progresses, starting with their blockbuster battle against rival TNT Tropang Giga on Friday.

“Maybe it will take some time but it feels great out there. They have me on a minute restriction below but, I’m going to work hard until I get back to regular minutes. I feel great.”