JuneMar still in rehab

MANILA, Philippines - Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Raul Canlas confirmed the other day that San Miguel Beer center JuneMar Fajardo is suffering from bilateral plantar fasciitis in both feet and it’s the reason why the PBA’s reigning MVP isn’t able to play with Gilas at the FIBA Asia Championships in Changsha next month.

“JuneMar’s not 100 percent,” said Dr. Canlas. “According to his agent (lawyer Baldomero Estenzo), he’s undergoing therapy in Cebu. You remember, last March, JuneMar didn’t play in the PBA All-Star Game in Puerto Princesa because of a sprained left ankle, aggravating his plantar fasciitis. So there’s a history. He needs rest. No surgery is required unless there is a tear. What we’re concerned about is an aggravation of the injury because it could lead to a tear.”

San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria said Fajardo wanted to play with Gilas but his condition prevented it. “JuneMar told me he really wants to play with Gilas,” said Austria. “But with both feet hurting, he knows he won’t be able to play his best. He thought it would be better if he takes a rest, gets better and allows somebody else to take his place in the team. It would be unfair if he takes a spot in the lineup and he wouldn’t be able to play the way he can.”

Austria said the San Miguel Group never pressured any player to decide whether or not to play with Gilas. “Management told the San Miguel Group coaches that the decision to join Gilas is up to the players,” he said. “If the players decide to join, we were told to support them all the way. In JuneMar’s case, he would’ve joined if not for his injury. I’m sure when his injury heals, he’ll be back with Gilas in the next competition.”

Austria said Fajardo was nursing the injury in both feet throughout the recent Governors Cup. “JuneMar was being monitored closely by our physical therapist,” he said. “He would take pain killers so he could play but after every game, his feet would swell. It was hard for JuneMar. I remember in the quarterfinals, we lost the first game to Meralco. But we came back. For the first time since the All-Filipino tournament, we played with a complete lineup of 14 players plus our import (Arizona Reid). We didn’t push JuneMar too far because of his condition.”

To relieve Fajardo, San Miguel traded for Yancy de Ocampo and Gabby Espinas to join Jay-R Reyes in a backup corps for the Governors Cup. “JuneMar and Arwind (Santos) averaged about 40 minutes each in the All-Filipino because we couldn’t play a complete lineup with so many injuries,” said Austria. “When the season ended, JuneMar was really tired and in pain because of his plantar fasciitis.”

A team insider said Fajardo opted to withdraw from Gilas because he didn’t want to be clobbered by Asian opposition in his condition. “In the PBA, JuneMar could get away by playing hurt because he’s such a dominant player,” the insider said. “But overseas, he wouldn’t be able to dominate even with pain killers. I don’t think JuneMar would’ve liked to play less than 100 percent for our country.”

Austria said San Miguel will regroup for its first offseason practice on Sept. 2. “I hope JuneMar will be ready by then although I know he needs at least two months of rest,” he said. “We haven’t spoken since our victory party after the season but I know he’s resting and doing rehab in Cebu. He’s spending time with his family. We’re the last team to call for practice. We want to give our players the rest they need to recuperate from injuries.”

Austria said he expects Marcio Lassiter to be back in town for the first practice. “There was some concern about Marcio’s eligibility to play with Gilas,” he said. “I know he and Chris Lutz weren’t allowed to play at first during the 2011 FIBA Asia Championships then FIBA gave its OK conditionally. So I don’t know if Marcio would’ve been eligible. But he also wanted to play with Gilas, like JuneMar, but had to fly to the US to be with his mother who is suffering from cancer. He didn’t pursue Gilas anymore when he wasn’t named to the pool.”

Austria said San Miguel will be intact this season. “Unless we see a player who’s better than any of our players now, we won’t trade,” he said. “We’ve renewed the contracts of Arwind, JuneMar, Alex (Cabagnot), Chris (Lutz) and Marcio. The rest of the players have live contracts. Axel (Doruelo) remains a practice player although in the Governors Cup, we activated him for a short while. Ronald Pascual is with us. It was a tough season for Ronald. His father passed away so he was out for a week then when he came back, he got sick. Later, he got injured. He was in uniform for the Governors Cup but never played.”

Austria said San Miguel’s backcourt is solid with Cabagnot, Chris Ross, Lutz, Lassiter and Ronald Tubid. “We’ll be intact,” he said. “But we’ve got to work harder if we want to continue to win. We won two of three conferences last season so every team is out to bring us down. We’ll plan from conference to conference but our goal is to win championships. Our No. 1 priority is to get in shape, to be healthy. We can’t relax.”