Injured Blackwater import given walking papers

MANILA, Philippines – An ankle injury led to the exit of Blackwater import Ricky Ledo, who failed to show his NBA-caliber skills for the Bossing, head coach Jeff Cariaso said.

Ledo, who played in 28 games in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks and the New York Knicks, had horrible games for the Bossing. 

In his first game in the PBA Governors’ Cup, he scored 12 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists but shot 4-of-23 from the field against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

In what turned out to be his final game for the Bossing, he produced just six markers, nine boards and an assist on a 2-of-15 clip against the NLEX Road Warriors. 

After Blackwater’s 128-108 loss to San Miguel on Sunday wherein the team played all-Filipino, Cariaso bared that Ledo tweaked his ankle a day before the squad’s first game and had been suffering from a Grade 2 ankle sprain. 

“Honestly, he tweaked his ankle the day before our first game and then he slightly tweaked it again in our last game right at the beginning. I don’t know if you saw him kinda hobbling. And then you know, it was one of those things where you kinda know what’s gonna happen next,” Cariaso told reporters. 

“That’s no question, that’s not a mystery. I think it’s only right that we move forward,” he added.

“When you’re not healthy and you’re not producing, you’re not helping, then I think… this being even less one game, being a quicker conference, 10 games, right, you’ve gotta be able to make a move faster and that’s what we did.” 

On Sunday, Blackwater led by 10, 63-53, in the first half against the mighty Beermen despite 26 points from San Miguel import Jordan Adams. 

But the Beermen found their rhythm in the second half and banked on Adams’ 50-point explosion to pull off a come-from-behind win.

“Obviously, [Ledo] wasn’t himself. It happens. It’s one of those things unfortunately where it just doesn’t work out and you have two subpar games at best, but our team, we need more. We need more from our import,” Cariaso said.

“He’s gotta be the stabilizer for us and it doesn’t even mean scoring 50 like tonight. It just means being solid on both ends and I think when the rest of his game suffered, that’s where we felt that there was the need to move forward,” he added. 

Very disappointed

Cariaso also stressed his disappointment with how things panned out, especially with how Ledo performed in the preseason. 

“Five good games and he really displayed what he can do. We felt like we got someone who can carry us and turn things around and be the guy who could score at the end of the shot clock,” he said. 

“Maybe that ankle injury got too much for him, but again, we don’t have the time to kinda wait for him. We don’t have the time to wait so we needed to make a move quickly and make an adjustment and that’s what we did… We expected him to fight through it and be able to play through the pain but if he can’t produce and he can’t be his normal self, then, it’s gonna be tough.” 

For now, the team is talking to two imports — one of whom is former NLEX and San Miguel import Cameron Clark — to step in for Ledo. 

“Right before the game, he hasn’t signed it but we are looking to sign Cameron Clark,” he said. 

“We’re hoping that he could come in as early as Tuesday, that’s the goal, and I’m just waiting for that one final confirmation but he is one of two guys we’re talking to but he’s obviously our first priority.”