Chris Newsome suffered another injury, a sorry development that will further delay his return to Meralco in the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
Bolts team manager Paolo Trillo told Daily Tribune that the 6-foot-2 shooting guard was supposed to be cleared to see action for their game against leader Bay Area on Friday, but he injured his left calf during a non-contact, five-on-zero drill with Gilas Pilipinas last Monday.
Trillo said Newsome informed him that the pain he is suffering is similar to the contusion on his right calf that he sustained more than a month ago.
“He told me about it and described that the pain is similar to the one he experienced more than a month ago,” Trillo said in a telephone conversation.
“He was supposed to be given clearance for Friday’s game until he injured his other calf. It’s just a case of bad luck.”
Meralco coach Norman Black confirmed the sorry development, saying that Newsome remains without a timetable.
“He will be out for awhile,” Black said.
“He strained his left calf muscle in the RP practice last night. I don’t think he will be playing anytime soon.”
Newsome first suffered his calf injury in the first half of the Bolts’ first game of the Commissioner’s Cup against NorthPort on 30 September.
With that, he missed the Bolts next five games, putting them in danger of getting eliminated from the playoffs for the first time in six conferences.
Right now, the Bolts are at the cellar of the team standings with a single win in six matches, a record that is quite unexpected since they are a regular fixture in the semifinals and advanced to the championship twice where they lost to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
Meralco was pinning its hopes on Newsome’s supposed return and another import change.
The Bolts are expected to parade their third reinforcement in returning import K.J. McDaniels, who was tapped to take over the spot of Jessie Govan.
Govan, who was about to replace original import choice Johnny O’Bryant, was sent home without playing a game as he was measured over the 6-foot-10 height limit.
