MANILA, Philippines — Japeth Aguilar has recovered from his left knee injury and will play with the Smart Gilas Pilipinas when the national basketball team faces the Alaska Aces on Friday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. The troublesome knee has kept the 6-foot-9 Aguilar from seeing action in the Asian Games in Guangzhou China last year and the Dubai Invitational last January.
His arrival is expected to boost the Gilas’ campaign in the pro-league, which started on high note by beating Philippine Cup champion Talk ‘N Text, 103-98, last Saturday in Antipolo City.
Smart-Gilas will battle an Alaska side that improved its record to 2-0 following a 95-94 victory over Barangay Ginebra late Sunday.
Alaska playmaker LA Tenorio delivered the key basket when he buried a three-pointer with 3.6 seconds left in the game, and then stole the ball from Kings’ import Nate Brumfield to seal the outcome.
Smart-Gilas, however, will miss forward Mac Baracael, who will be sidelined for at least six weeks after he injured his left middle finger, team manager Frankie Lim said yesterday.
The oblique fracture in his middle finger doesn’t need a surgery, but Lim said: “He’s probably out of the conference.”
The 6-foot-4 Baracael, one of the Smart-Gilas leaders, sustained the fracture following a rebound play when he was hacked in the hand by Talk ’N Text import Paul Harris late in the fourth quarter of their recent victory over TNT.
Seven players scored in double-digits for Smart-Gilas, including Baracael who had 12 points highlighted by two three-pointers. He also added two rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes of action.
“It’s definitely a big setback for us, but we have to keep moving forward. There’s nothing we can do about it except that we wait for his return,” Smart-Gilas Serbian coach Rajko Toroman said “He’s one of our main players, so we’ll try to make some adjustment.”
Waylon Galvez, Manila Bulletin
