 |
| Five-time PBA champ Jared Dillinger is still not in best shape coming back from injury. PBA (file photo) |
MANILA- 'The Daredevil' Jared Dillinger was obviously still not in his previous dominant form playing against Blackwater last Sunday.
The guard-forward just played nine minutes in action in an 86-84 losing effort to the Blackwater Elite in the first conference of the 2016-17 PBA season.
The Fil-Am star just came back from a hamstring injury he suffered on the Game 2 of their best-of-five showdown with the TNT KaTropa last conference which resulted to his absence on the concluding finals against the Gin Kings that they eventually lost in Game 7.
Dillinger didn't score in his only attempt and gave his team three rebounds and two turnovers in their last outing. It is far from his previous form as a key player that helped them make a deep run last cup.“I haven’t played in two months, I just started to practice maybe three days ago. Coach Norman just wanna pull me in a little bit. Just trying to run up and down. My legs aren’t there yet, I’m still feeling weak, so It’s gonna be a process,” Dillinger said.
The 32-year old swingman also urged his teammates step up despite their former team captain Jimmy Alapag's departure.
“Looking at the bigger picture, we got new guys who could provide some energy in our rotation and make a difference. Justin Chua just got some playing time, Rabeh [Al-Hussaini] is picking up his game, we have two skilled rookies in Jonathan [Grey] and Ed [Daquioag] and there’s Joseph Yeo.
“It’s a growing process. There’s nowhere to go but up and we got a week to figure it out.” Dillinger said.
Follow him on Twitter: @notjeckloy
.jpg)
