MANILA, Philippines -- Though expected to be named to the 26-man Gilas Pilipinas pool, Barangay Ginebra big man Greg Slaughter is non-committal at the moment, pending his his right ankle check up this month.
The 6-foot-11 youthful slotman, currently in his native Cebu for a brief vacation, said he will have his right ankle re-evaluated as soon as he returns to Manila to see the progress of his injury.
“It’s been a pretty long year, and with that injury, I just need to get some rest. Though one thing I’m gonna do, I’ll get it checked out,” Slaughter told Philstar.com on Saturday.
The former Ateneo slotman said he’s grateful for the opportunity he had, representing the country a few years back via Smart-Gilas under Serbian coach Rajko Toroman.
“Every time I play for the national team, I always have a great time,” said the 27-year-old Ginebra center.
“I played all over the world and I was able to get so much exposure and give so much to country.”
But given his current ankle situation, Slaughter doesn’t intend to venture into something that won’t guarantee his 100-percent effort.
“I’m not 100 percent yet. But hopefully, everything will all be good,” he added.
Slaughter explained that his left leg has been overused in the season-ending conference considering that his right ankle wasn’t 100 percent healthy.
“I just gotta make sure things go back to normal because I’ve been compensating with the other leg just so there’s been a lot of tightening up,” he said.
“It just doesn’t feel totally right that’s why I had to shut down and let my body heal.”
Slaughter averaged modest numbers of 11.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in 28 minutes during the Governors Cup.
Source: Richard Dy of Philippine Star
