Overtime

JOSHUA MUNZON TO MISS PLANNED PBA PHILIPPINE CUP RESTART

Terrafirma Dyip’s Joshua Munzon will not play for the remainder of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup as he is still recovering from surgery on his dislocated left pinky finger.

/ 23 August 2021

Terrafirma coach John Cardel confirmed through ESPN5 report that the 6-foot-4 wingman is in the healing process, making him miss the conference that is expected to resume by early September after securing verbal approval from the Pampanga government.

“More likely Josh will miss the rest of the conference because of his injury,” Cardel said to ESPN5. “We felt bad because he was starting to adjust well (to PBA play) when he sustained the injury.”

The 26-year-old suffered the dislocated left pinky finger last month in Dyip’s match against Magnolia Hotshots. He then missed out on the game between Terrafirma and Rain or Shine last August 1.

“Currently, there is a metal pin going down my left pinky finger keeping the joint together,” said Munzon. “I recently got the stitches out so I’m coming along.”

The top pick in the PBA Season 46 Draft played three games for Terrafirma and provided offense by averaging 11.7 points, fourth behind Juami Tiongson, fellow number one draft pick Roosevelt Adams, and Aldrech Ramos.

Moreover, the Dyip mentor is glad that second-year wingman Roosevelt Adams is starting to pick up his game as a pro with his double-double averages of 13.5 points and 11.75 rebounds per contest.

With Munzon’s absence on the team, he stressed the importance of team play for Terrafirma to finally get over the hump.

“Definitely sucks because I was just getting into a rhythm and building chemistry with my teammates but I’m confident I’ll come back stronger from this,” said Munzon.

Furthermore, teams participating in the tournament are expected to return to training in the coming week with the impending restart of the conference.

The Terrafirma is scheduled to assemble next Monday at the team’s training facility at the Azure Urban Resort and Residences in Paranaque.

“We will meet there (at Azure), give some instructions and then travel together as a team for Pampanga next Monday morning. Then we are scheduled to practice by Tuesday,” Cardel shared.

“I don’t want to call that (suspension) a blessing but some of my players were able to recover from their injuries like Matt (Ganuelas-Rosser) and Gelo (Alolino), but we all know it’s really a challenge to maintain one’s condition by just training via ZOOM.” Explained the Dyip coach.