Almazan already all right

MERALCO Bolts coach Norman Black said Raymond Almazan has finally recovered from his knee injury while recently acquired big man Nonoy Baclao will soon complete his rehabilitation from a ruptured patellar tendon.

“He (Almazan) is back already 100 percent. The only problem is there’s no practice. And even Noy Baclao ‒ he’s near [to full recovery],” said Black optimistically to The Manila Times on Saturday after hearing some good news from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

The IATF-EID has already allowed the request of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) to train as long as there are no scrimmages or games. The league is allowed to practice with only a limited number of players in the venue, including the trainer and the health officer.

The 6’7”Almazan had suffered a meniscal tear on his left knee during Game 3 of the Governors’ Cup Finals last January. That injury turned out to be costly for the Bolts as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel captured its third Governors’ Cup crown within the last four seasons — all against Meralco.

Moving forward, Black said the first priority, after receiving the league’s formal schedule for the resumption of practices, is to check the status of the players.

PBA players kept in shape on their own during the community quarantine phases, spanning more than four months since the suspension of league games on March 11. During this period, teams monitored the training of players via Zoom teleconferencing.

“At the beginning of practice, we will be concentrating on the condition of the players to make sure they are not sick or [don’t have] an injury. And, hopefully, if there’s [a] new development [such as] allowing five-on-five [games], siguro mas maganda (perhaps that would be more appealing),” said Black.

Once the general community quarantine shifts to a more relaxed modified community quarantine, there’s a possibility that the IATF-EID will also allow scrimmages or the aforementioned five-on-five plays.