PBA: Tenorio, Slaughter rue lapses that led to costly Ginebra loss

LA Tenorio looks as the Kings dropped an 84-83 decision to Batang Pier Sunday night. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Both LA Tenorio and Greg Slaughter would rather not dwell on the conclusion of the Gin Kings’ 84-83 overtime defeat to GlobalPort which booted them out of contention in the 2016 Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.

With the Batang Pier clinging on to a one-point lead in the last 8.0 seconds, Stanley Pringle received a pass from Jay Washington near the half-court line where he was met by a trap by Sol Mercado and Slaughter. As the game clock dwindled away, the reigning Rookie of the Year did his best to evade any fouls from the hounding Ginebra defense, and desperately lunged to pass the ball to Keith Jensen, who then immediately gave it to Terrence Romeo as the buzzer sounded.

Tenorio, who was on the floor in the crucial seconds, said that Ginebra followed what coach Tim Cone drew on the whiteboard.

“That’s what we want to do, to trap and have no fouls.”

Slaughter also believed that the Gin Kings followed their defensive gameplan to a tee, but it just didn’t work out for them in the end.

“I thought we got a good trap. Obviously, the second thought was to foul, but it’s just how the game goes.”

Though the Kings contested supposed non-calls in that stretch, Tenorio knew that it was also their own doing that put the crowd favorites on the losing end.

“Sana di na umabot sa ganun kung di rin sa lapses namin during the game,” he said.

Putting the heartbreak behind them, the Kings could only look at the positive and

“It’s a learning process for us,” said Tenorio. “It just happened na ganito yung format, pero kung hindi ganito yung format, baka iba ang kinalabasan.
Pero we’re still positive and looking forward to the next conference. Di pa namin alam yung mga plano pero we’ll wait sa kung anong gagawin ng management at coaching staff.”

“I’m not too much on the what ifs. GlobalPort had to play by these rules too, and they won the game so credit to them,” Slaughter shared.