‘Pain-free’ Fajardo back to training with Gilas

Gabe Norwood laughs with June Mar Fajardo and Moala Tautuaa during Gilas practice. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Healthy and pain-free, June Mar Fajardo joined Gilas Pilipinas practice for the first time after sitting out the past week due to a swollen knee.

Gilas Pilipinas also started its closed-door training sessions on Monday at Meralco Gym.

Fajardo, the San Miguel Beer center, told INQUIRER.net that the team had complete attendance with practice player Raymond Almazan, backup naturalized player Mo Tautuaa, naturalized center Andray Blatche and the other regulars all present.

“Kumpleto kami. Maganda tinakbo ng practice kanina,” Fajardo said.

“First time ko ulit magpractice since nagpa-check ako ng tuhod ko last week. Okay na, wala na talagang pain,” he said.

The back-to-back PBA MVP also took notice of Blatche’s conditioning after seeing the former NBA veteran practice the past couple of days.

“Kundisyon siya tapos yung katawan niya mas lean. Mas kundisyon siya ngayon compared last year,” said the 6-foot-10 Fajardo, who is looking forward to teaming up with Blatche again.

Plantar fasciitis on both feet forced Fajardo to skip Gilas’ campaign in the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship where Blatche led the team to a silver medal losing to host China in the final.

Fajardo said Gilas will take a break on Tuesday before hitting the court again on Wednesday.