Coach Tim Cone is holding out hope that Carl Tamayo would be fine after suffering a sprained ankle in Gilas Pilipinas’ 82-81 overtime victory over Jordan in the fourth window of the Fiba World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
Tamayo left with 7:58 left in the third quarter after rolling his left ankle while driving to the hoop and spent the rest of the thrilling encounter at Mall of Asia Arena playing the role of cheerleader.
While Tamayo was able to walk on his own, Cone said his status and availability for Sunday’s crucial tiff with Iran at the same venue will depend on his recovery.
‘Right now, he can walk. But beyond that, it’s swollen. It’s a sprained ankle,’ Cone said. ‘We’ll give him the treatment tonight, and tomorrow and we’ll see how he is at that point.’
That also puts Cone to ponder whether he’ll make a slight change to his 12-man roster, with RJ Abarrientos and Justin Arana part of the pool.
Abarrientos and Arana were the last two cuts for the window, but Fiba rules allow changes during the window, provided the players are in the official pool.
Cone, however, would rather stick with the status quo.
‘In the meantime, we still have RJ and Justin on the list,’ he said. ‘Those two guys could fill in for Carl, if necessary. Hopefully, it won’t be necessary.’
Before going down, Tamayo was one of the bright spots for Gilas with eight points, including a three-pointer to end the half, cutting Jordan’s lead to 44-39, a shot Cone described as uplifting.