BATTERED BUT NOT BROKEN

Center June Mar Fajardo will join practice after a couple more days of rest, but Calvin Oftana remains doubtful for Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup next week.

Both players sat out the national team’s send-off tune up game against the Macau Bears on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to recuperate from injuries they sustained in the grueling Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) playoffs.

The San Miguel Beer big man is nursing a calf injury the he suffered in the semifinals and played through pain in helping the franchise capture the title while Oftana hurt both his ankles in TNT’s foiled grand slam bid.

Gilas coach Tim Cone is sure to have Fajardo back on board once they arrive in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the prestigious continental basketball tilt running from 5 to 17 August.

“June Mar, we expect him to start practicing when we land in Jeddah. He’s gonna take another two or three days off from doing any physical activity,” Cone said after Gilas’ 103-98 victory in the team’s first of two friendlies before plunging into action.

“And we expect him to play, start practicing when we arrive, which will be on the evening of the 31st over there. We expect him to play in our friendly against Jordan.”

Gilas is scheduled to leave for the mineral-rich country with a large number of overseas Filipino workers on Wednesday.

Cone, however, could scratch Oftana off the lineup if his situation does not improve in time for the competition.

“We are not sure about Calvin,” he said.

“The medical reports are that he might be out a little bit longer, so far that we’ve gotten.”

Oftana sprained his ankles in the semis against Rain or Shine but managed to play for the severely depleted and injury-plagued Tropang 5G in six finals games.

“We were given a medical report from his camp. But we’re not sure if he’s gonna be available for the whole tournament. We’re gonna address that today or tomorrow,” Cone added.

“We got Troy (Rosario) and RJ (Abarrientos) sitting on the wings to step in if necessary.”

Despite uncertainties in Oftana’s status, Cone is just relieved that the 6-foot-10 Fajardo will be good to go.

“He changes the game for us. We have to play in a different way with June Mar on the floor,” the decorated mentor said.

Gilas needs the presence of the 12-time PBA Best Player of the Conference inside against the dangerous Chinese Taipei, New Zealand and Iraq squads in Group D.

Gilas is already one center down with 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto still recovering from a knee injury.

Cone plans to use the team’s remaining preparation days to integrate Fajardo into the system as he missed most of Gilas’ buildup due to his PBA duties.

“The only concern is that we haven’t had much practice time with him. He has such an impact that you have to cut a play differently when he’s on the floor. We have to learn that difference when he’s on the floor,” Cone said.

“But we’ll see what’s going on with him. Hopefully, he said he’ll be ready on the 31st.”

Gilas is set to play Jordan in a tune up game, days before the Filipinos square off against Chinese Taipei.

They will challenge New Zealand on the 8th before wrapping their group stage assignment against the Iraqis on the 10th.

Gilas has split its head-to-head against the Taiwanese and the Kiwis, winning in their first encounters in the early windows of the tournament’s qualifiers. However, Gilas was blown out by Chinese Taipei and New Zealand on the road in the third and final window of the qualifiers last February.

Naturalized player Justin Brownlee leads the crack Gilas squad, also composed of Dwight Ramos, Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo, Chris Newsome, Carl Tamayo, AJ Edu, CJ Perez, Japeth Aguilar and Kevin Quiambao.