MANILA, Philippines – In what was supposed to be his UAAP debut, Kobe Paras was forced to sit out due to a sprained right ankle. 

However, University of the Philippines (UP) head coach Bo Perasol wants him to suit up in their next game against University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Saturday, September 7, despite not being at his 100%. 

“He really needs to feel the game already, even in limited minutes. It was just a minor sprain, but I don’t want to risk it also,” said Perasol after the Fighting Maroons escaped Far Eastern University, 61-55, on Wednesday, September 4. 

“Right now he needs to feel the game, I think we have a week of rest after that. He has to be ready for the games to come.”

Paras sustained the injury during practice last Monday, September 2, which hindered him from playing in UP’s opening game against the Tamaraws. 

Despite having one man down, Javi Gomez de Liaño stepped up as he emerged as the Maroons’ lone double-digit scorer with 22 points off a 10-of-16 clip.

However, Perasol was not satisfied with the way the team blew its strong start and hopes that the Fighting Maroons will learn from their mistakes quickly if they want to make it back to the Finals. 

“I don’t think I am happy with how we executed things but the way Javi scored against FEU was what bailed us out,” added Perasol. 

“We could have done better but this is just the first game. We’re too excited and if we’re going to go through the season, and achieving our goals we need to really play greedy defense.”  – Rappler.com