Newsome will be Gilas-ready despite hurting knee
Meralco star Chris Newsome won’t have time for a breather, even after playing hurt and failing to help the Bolts exit in the East Asia Super League.
Played through a hurting knee in Meralco’s 88-79 loss to Ryukyu at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, Newsome will only have a few days to attend to his ailing MCL with another stint for flag and country looming.
And Newsome, like he always is, remains excited for the challenge.
“I got more work to do,” he told the Inquirer. “You know, I got to keep my recovery process going because we got a big window coming up at the end of the month.
“I’m looking forward to that now, so there’s definitely no time off for me,” he said. “I got to keep going to the rehabs and going to the therapies and stay in the gym and just keep improving myself just so I can give my best.”
Just felt right
Newsome injured his knee during the Bolts’ semifinals series with TNT in the recently concluded Philippine Cup and that mishap made him questionable for Meralco’s must-win game against the Golden Kings in the EASL.
Fortunately for the Gilas guard, though, his engines felt right just days before the Wednesday clash.
“[I] tried it out that one day, didn’t really have any pain and coach asked me if I can go and I told him I can go,” Newsome said.
Although he didn’t play much, seeing action in just 19 minutes and producing three points, Newsome still had a feel of the game, which is an important thing for him considering that the Gilas stint is coming up in a couple of weeks.
The Nationals play on Feb. 26 and March 1, clashing with New Zealand and Australia, respectively, for the second window of the 2027 Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
Both matches are set at the Mall of Asia Arena, with the Gilas Five likely to be without Kai Sotto, who is still dealing with recovery from a foot injury sustained recently in the Japan B.League.
