Injured Castro, De Ocampo cleared

MANILA, Philippines - Gilas Pilipinas got a big relief yesterday with Jayson Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo cleared of a serious injury that could have prevented them from suiting up for the Philippine team in the 27th FIBA Asia Championship.

Gilas doctors said the ankle sprain of Castro and De Ocampo was minor and they should recover in time for Team Phl’s opening game against Saudi Arabia at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the MOA Arena in Pasay.

“No muscle or ligament damage. Prognosis looks good for both,” sighed Gilas coach Chot Reyes.

The Gilas coaching staff and the rest of the team got worried as Castro and De Ocampo limped home from their tune-up match with Kazakhstan at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.

De Ocampo played only a little over six minutes due to the injury he suffered in the third quarter. Castro, the night’s best performer, also failed to finish the match as he got hurt in a midair collision with a Kazakh defender with 1:36 left to play.

Team Phl had met several sad incidents in the past, losing a key player to an injury suffered in a warm-up game.

Danny Seigle missed the 2002 Busan Asian Games when he went down with a foot injury in a friendly with a visiting Australian team.

Kelly Williams became a casualty, missing the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship in Tokushima. The Phl team to the 2009 Asian war wasn’t spared of a bad luck with Ryan Reyes falling down with a hamstring injury in their first game in the SEABA Asian qualifier.

The current team actually had had its share of health woes, losing pool members Williams, Reyes, Sonny Thoss and Jared Dillinger even before starting their regular training.

Williams, Reyes, Thoss and Dillinger are on Gilas’ reserve list together with Gilas cadet players Garvo Lanete, Matt Ganuelas, Kevin Alas, RR Herrera, Greg Slaughter, Jake Pascual and Ronald Pascual.

Gilas Pilipinas and the rest of the FIBA Asia participating teams can make a last-minute revision to their lineups during the team managers’ meeting on the eve of the tourney.

“There’s nothing to worry. Makukuha sa pagpag ito,” said Castro, confident he can recover.

“It would be sad if I won’t be able to play because of an injury. I’ve long been working hard for this,” said De Ocampo.

The Nationals, taking a rest today, have only three practice days left before plunging into action in the Asian qualifier for the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

“It’s just more of mental preparation now; mental sharpening,” said Reyes.

In the first round of the preliminaries, the Nationals play Saudi Arabia Thursday, Jordan Friday and Chinese Taipei Saturday.

“We don’t want to overlook Saudi Arabia but we’re preparing hard for Jordan and Chinese Taipei,” said Reyes.

The tourney takes a break on Aug. 4 then resumes with Gilas Pilipinas playing Group B teams Qatar, Japan and Hong Kong.