Keith Datu is now ruled out for the rest of PBA Season 50 after rupturing his patellar tendon. PBA Images (file photo)
By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Rain or Shine's victory against Phoenix on Wednesday night came at a price when Keith Datu had a bad fall in the third quarter of their game at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

On track to finish a pick-and-roll play, Datu slipped while going for the layup and was seen clutching his right knee.

The six-foot-eight stretch big man never got to finish the game, and, as revealed on Thursday, he is done for the year.

The Elasto Painters announced the sad news that Datu suffered a right patellar tendon rupture during the bad fall.

Similar to the one suffered by TNT's Jayson Castro last season, the rehabilitation period for the said knee injury could last a full year, which essentially means Datu may only return by November 2026.

However, ROS decided to shut down Datu, averaging 10 points and six rebounds so far, for the rest of the PBA's 50th season, which will run until December next year.

This is not the first time the 29-year-old Datu has injured his knee in a PBA game, as he suffered a grade 2 MCL sprain last year.

The latest injury setback, however, was a significant one because, according to coach Yeng Guiao, they were placing a greater premium on leg days during Datu's conditioning sessions.

"He's already been having issues with his knees even before, kaya nga yun ang focus namin: to strengthen his lower body. So nangyari pa ito," Guiao said after their win.

With the Elasto Painters lacking ceiling, especially since Luis Villegas remains out for an indefinite period of time, Guiao said that they are facing a dilemma of whether they would loosen Beau Belga's minutes restriction.

"Mahirap kasi na mina-manage namin minutes ni Beau tapos si Keith nagkaproblema ngayon tapos si Caelan [Tiongson] na-injured din. Baka puro gwardya na ilaro namin pagka ganun, so we'll just have to find ways," Guiao said, although he added that Tiongson, out for a while due to a hamstring injury, could be good to go on Saturday night when they face the NLEX Road Warriors.

The small-ball scenario somehow happened on Wednesday night against the Fuel Masters when Guiao was forced to put Gabe Norwood, naturally a wingman, at the power forward position more frequently.

Guiao, though, still sees a silver lining in Datu's injury.

"It's a good thing na ngayon nangyari. We're going to have time to figure something out in the next few weeks," he further said.

With the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers window coming up, ROS, after its Nov. 15 game against TNT, will only return by Dec. 7, which means the team has three weeks to assess its injury situation.