Aguilar made his return to the court after over two months.
Game 3 of the PBA Governors’ Cup finals marked the long-awaited return of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel big man Japeth Aguilar.
The Ginebra forward, who had been out since February after suffering an MCL sprain, checked into the game at the 8:59-mark of the second quarter.
When the buzzer sounded on Friday, Aguilar only played less than five minutes, finishing with 2 points, 1 assist, and 1 rebound against the TNT Tropang Giga.
Coach Tim Cone says playing limited minutes was exactly the plan for the veteran big man.
“The goal was to go out and give Japeth a feel. Give him a couple of minutes,” said Cone during the post-game press conference.
As the usual case for players returning from injuries, they get eased back into action first. And to no surprise, Japeth looked far from 100%.
Cone and Ginebra are embracing the process, nonetheless.
“You could tell he's not really explosive at the moment, but he's still building to it,” said Cone. “So, hopefully, maybe next game we can extend the minutes out a little bit more.”
But will Aguilar play heavy minutes in the finals? Cone can't go there just yet.
“Whether he's gonna go back to normal minutes in this series, I'm not sure, but we'll continue to give him minutes, hopefully, and monitor how he does,” said the 65-year-old tactician.
Ginebra, now holding a 2-1 series lead, will look to take a commanding advantage on Sunday as they play Game 4 of the finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.