Rustiness Shows in Early Games of PBA Bubble

"They are not fully there yet," that's how Jinno Rufino thought about the physical readiness of the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in their first win in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup restart inside the Clark bubble. And even though, the Gin Kings won against the NLEX Road Warriors, 102-92 in the main game last Sunday, Rufino noted that Ginebra players looked like they are not physically ready. Yet. And the same goes for other teams who already played inside the bubble. 

Jump Thru Hoops aired its ninth episode on Tuesday with Rufino and Aaron Atayde talking how the games and the players were during the first three games of the PBA restart in Clark and one thing that both Rufino and Atayde noticed was this: some players looked rusty while some aren't physically ready to play in a bubble. Yet.  Atayde even noticed that the referees were already huffing and puffing"three minutes into the game" due to the fatigue. 

Atayde went on by saying "There are two ways that you are hit getting back into the game. One is that you are rusty and there are tons of players that we're seeing who are rusty out there. And two, even if you aren't rusty, let's say you kind of got your feet under you immediately, you don't have your feet there for a very long time. Endurance is so much of a problem right now in the PBA," Rufino shared "Even though those there are players who I've spoken to felt that they were ready, that they were expecting to be in good shape, they really weren't," He also mentioned the issue regarding the availability of the court for practices that but in the end, Jinno pointed out, "It's something that (rustiness) will get better as the bubble goes on,"

Talking about how long will this preparation of players getting back into full game shape, Aaron Atayde said, "We're probably looking at maybe one and a half weeks of real preparation," He concluded, "In time, it's gonna come down to who gets there first. Who gets into their rhythm first,"  

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