Sidelined for a year, Ateneo’s Adrian Wong eyes big comeback

MANILA, Philippines – It’s easy for a basketball player to get demoralized after suffering a season-ending injury.

Such was a situation faced by Ateneo player Adrian Wong, who after having impressive freshman and sophomore campaigns in the UAAP, sustained a torn ACL injury in January 2017 that kept him out of action for Season 80. 

Wong wasn’t able to see action on court just when the Blue Eagles bagged their first seniors basketball title in 5 years, but he didn’t let the situation leave him drowning in sorrows as he focused on getting back from his injury.

“Obviously I wasn’t part of the team officially, but they still treated me like family,” he told Rappler. “I was so close to the team throughout the process.”

“They had to fight their own battle and I had my own, unfortunately, recovering from a [torn] ACL. All that matters is that my brothers, they won, and I’m happy for them. I’m super excited to come back and defend the crown this year.”

Although their campaign didn’t get off to a good start after a shock loss to Adamson, the Blue Eagles are sure getting an improved version of the player they rely on for floor spacing, consistent playmaking, and shut-down defense. 

According to Wong, studying the game from the sidelines gave him a better understanding of how it works. 

“Watching the game helped me see like a broader picture of the game, cause when you’re in the court you only see certain things,” he said. 

“But as you see it from almost a coach’s perspective, you can see almost every little detail that we miss as players on the court.”

Wong said head coach Tab Baldwin is making sure the boys don’t listen to too much of the noise that surrounds any defending champion.

“Coach Tab really does a good job of [keeping us] level-headed. Right now he tells us [to] forget about everything, because during the summer we sort of had to prepare for those and we weren’t really prepared for the UAAP.”

“But right now, that’s really what we’re concentrating on. We’re really focusing on that. We still have a lot of things to cover and get better at.” – Rappler.com