THERE’S no stopping San Miguel Beer playmaker Alex Cabagnot these days, not even a depressed nasal fracture.
Though advised by doctors to undergo surgery, Cabagnot managed to still get a green light to play, provided he wears a facial mask to protect his injured nose.
Except for that mask, nothing has changed for the left-handed guard, who averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists as the Beermen went 2-0 in a span of three days to become the first Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week awardee in 2017.
The 34-year-old Cabagnot beat the likes of SMB teammates Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo, Rain or Shine’s Jericho Cruz, NLEX guard Carlo Lastimosa and GlobalPort’s high-scoring gunner Terrence Romeo for the citation for the period of Dec. 28, 2016-Jan. 8, 2017.
Although he felt uncomfortable to play with the facial mask the first time he wore it last Friday, Cabagnot managed to heat up fast, firing 10 points in the opening period to set the tone for San Miguel, which went on to clobber Blackwater, 118-93.
The win helped San Miguel gain the first playoff spot in the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup.
The University of Hawaii-Hilo standout finished the game with a near double-double output of 14 points and 9 rebounds against the Elite.
Two days later, Cabagnot helped San Miguel get the upper hand after banging nine of his 16 points in the third period as the Beermen scraped past Barangay Ginebra, 72-70 as they improved to a tournament-best 7-1.
Opting for surgery would have forced Cabagnot to miss the rest of the PBA Philippine Cup, a scenario that the SMB guard wouldn’t want to happen.
“And I’ll miss part of the Commissioner’s Cup (if he underwent surgery), but we’re in the middle of the season now and there are certain things you gotta do and you gotta take care of. Put the priorities at hand first,” he said.