Jeff Chan. PBA IMAGES/Nuki Sabio
Rain or Shine sharpshooter Jeff Chan is hopeful that the Holy Week break will be enough time for him to recuperate from a foot injury.
Chan said he re-aggravated the plantar fasciitis in his right foot in the second quarter of the Elasto Painters’ 99-86 win over the Meralco Bolts in the opener of their best-of-five semifinals showdown Tuesday night.
READ: Rain or Shine disposes of Meralco for 1-0 lead in PBA semis
“Sumakit yung paa ko, ito pa yung sa Ginebra game. Tinry ko kanina pero nung napa-split ako Nagpa-sub na ako,” Chan told INQUIRER.net.
“Hopefully yung rest makatulong at makapahinga kasi baka bugbog na,” said Chan, who played for only five minutes before asking to be subbed out. “So hopefully pagdating ng Sunday pwede na ilaro.”
Chan added that he is undergoing treatment for his hurting foot. He will also have it checked on Wednesday and Saturday.
The Painters will resume their practice on Thursday with Game 2 set on Sunday but Chan said he is still unsure if whether he’ll be ready to practice and play by then.
“Hindi ko pa alam. Hindi ko naman pipilitin if masakit pa. Mas okay yung mapahinga muna yung katawan,” he said. “Pero medyo malayo naman ang agwat so baka okay na din naman ako.”
Chan’s absence, though, was hardly felt with his teammates, most notably guard Jericho Cruz, stepping up without him.
Cruz kept Meralco’s defense on its heels with his aggressiveness. He finished with nine points on 5-of-5 shooting from the free throw line in just close to 16 minutes off the bench.
“Happy nga ako kasi kanina nung nagpa-sub ako, sabi ko sa kanila ‘guys step up kayo, maging aggressive kayo kasi hindi na ako babalik’ so ayon nag-step up naman sila. And every time I always remind them what they need to do,” the former national team standout said.
“It was painful for us seeing Jeff get injured, he’s one of our best offensive players and we have to step up for the missing link,” said Cruz. “All of us stepped up including Jeric (Teng) that’s why we won.” CC