Elite lose Dela Cruz to injury in Gilas camp

MANILA, Philippines -  Blackwater team owner Dioceldo Sy is at a loss on who will shoulder Art dela Cruz’s salary after he went down with a ruptured achilles tendon while with Gilas Pilipinas in Day One of their three-day training camp in Splendido in Tagaytay Tuesday.

Dela Cruz suffered the injury in a freak accident on a shooting drill and immediately underwent surgery at the Makati Medical Center, a procedure that requires a rehabilitation process of at least four months.

With the mishap, the 6-foot-3 Blackwater forward is out of the Gilas team in the coming SEABA championship and will also be missing his mother team’s campaign in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup that fires off tomorrow at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“It’s a terrible blow on us. We’re still without Poy (Erram), and now we’ve also lost Art,” said Sy in an overseas phone conversation with The STAR.

Nevertheless, Sy said he’s not wavering on his commitment to back the national team, but he’s calling for clear-cut policies on issues like the case of Dela Cruz.

“What happens to the mother team now? We don’t have a player. Are we going to pay for nothing?,” said Sy, adding there’s no  provision on the PBA-SBP memorandum of agreement.

The PBA-SBP MOA is basically just about the lending of PBA players (at least two each) by their mother ball clubs to Gilas Pilipinas.

 But Sy insists Gilas has his support.

“It’s a call for national interest and we have to support it. We can’t turn our back on that. In fact, we gave our full support to Perlas Pilipinas,” said Sy, the No. 1 benefactor of the Phl ladies team under coach Patrick Aquino.

Another Blackwater stalwart Mac Belo appears a cinch to make the Gilas lineup for the SEABA meet.

“Our campaign is now hampered minus our key players. Nasira tuloy ang bakasyon ko (That ruined our holiday),” said Sy, who’s in Richmond, Vancouver visiting a daughter.

Minus Erram, Dela Cruz and Belo, the Elite will bank on import Greg Smith.

“He’s a bit overweight but he’s okay. He’s determined to make a good showing here in his hope to make it back to the NBA.

Smith is a second-time Manila visitor, his first being with the Houston Rockets in a game versus the Indiana Pacers at the MOA Arena in 2013.

Dela Cruz and Belo were Blackwater’s leading scorers in the last Philippine Cup both averaging 14.3 points a game.