Lassiter's Fractured Nose: The Bad News and the Good

When the news about the freak injury that hit June Mar Fajardo, the entire PBA community reacted by sending support to the 5-time PBA MVP who is gunning for a record-smashing sixth MVP award. More importantly, pundits began to question whether or not the San Miguel Beermen can still go for a six-peat in the upcoming PBA Philippine Cup which will open on March 8. 

We all know that in the All-Filipino Conference, the Beermen have the best starting unit that includes the Kraken, Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot, and Chris Ross. They also have Terrence Romeo, Von Pessumal, Paul Zamar, and new guy Russell Escoto who can provide the spark off the bench. Now, with June Mar Fajardo out for the 2020 Philippine Cup and possibly the entire 45th season of the PBA, that will be a big void to fill for anyone But that doesn't mean it cannot be filled collectively. And that doesn't make San Miguel anything less than a title contender either.

Until something else hit the Beermen in the nose. Literally.

An elbow to the nose to be exact.

It seems that the Beermen cannot catch a break as Marcio Lassiter is out after sustaining a fracture in his nose when he got elbowed during the tune-up game against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters last week. With the season scheduled to open in three weeks' time, this isn't something that San Miguel needs right now as they are still reeling from the Fajardo incident.

That is the bad news.

Fortunately, it seems that San Miguel won't be missing Marcio Lassiter even though he sat out a game against the NLEX Road Warriors today as part of the Phoenix Super Basketball Tournmanent as he vowed that he will be ready for the Beermen's opening night game against the Magnolia Hotshots on March 8. While there's no saying yet how the nose injury is going to affect Lassiter's game but at the very least, the Beermen will have him around while wearing a protective mask to protect his injured nose. And that's better than not having him at all. 

Photo is from the Philippine News Agency