Fajardo down with puffy knee; new injury sets back Gilas quintet

JUNE Mar Fajardo has been ordered to skip practice. TRISTAN TAMAYO / INQUIER.NET

JUNE Mar Fajardo joined the ranks of injured Gilas Pilipinas stalwarts yesterday, complaining of a swollen knee that his coach said needs to be rested for a few days.

National coach Tab Baldwin said Fajardo’s condition is part of life and ordered his 6-foot-10 center to sit out workouts for the rest of the week.

“(Fajardo’s injury) just came out of nowhere,” Baldwin told the Inquirer. “That’s life. Players get injured. We sent him off to see a doctor and we will have him come back on the court on Monday.”

Overall, the Gilas practice this week was not bad, “though it could be better,” he said.

Baldwin started the national team’s full preparations on Tuesday as the country tries to secure an Olympic berth for the first time in 40 years in the Fiba Qualifying Tournament that gets off the ground on July 5 at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Fajardo’s knee condition was not considered as equally delicate as that of point guard Paul Lee.

Lee, Ginebra 7-foot center Greg Slaughter and Tropang TNT’s Matt Ganuelas-Rosser earlier begged off from the team due to the severity of their injuries.

Meanwhile, Baldwin confirmed that naturalized center Andray Blatche will fly in late today and will join the team in practice on Sunday.

“We will see how he feels from jet lag,” Baldwin said. “We will try to have him on the court only on Sunday, because the last time he came in he wanted to play right away.”

Blatche, the 6-11 former Brooklyn Nets center-forward, missed previous practices as he had to attend to his ailing mother in the United States.

Once Baldwin has everyone on deck, practice will go full steam ahead as the team prepares to fly out to Europe for a back-breaking nine-day training camp in Greece and a playdate with Turkey’s national team.

After the two-country swing, the Filipinos will proceed to Bologne, Italy, to play in a pocket against China, Canada and the Italians.

“The (European) trip is still contingent on the visas,” said Baldwin of the trip scheduled for June 10. “But for now, that’s the schedule.”