Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
LA Tenorio didn’t sugarcoat any words in expressing his disappointment over Barangay Ginebra’s 108-103 loss to TNT on Sunday.
“We relaxed and we weren’t ready for their fourth quarter run. That’s where we had a problem,” he said.
The Gin Kings seemed on their way to another easy win, leading by as much as 14 points midway through the payoff period before Ranidel de Ocampo brought the KaTropa back and stole the game in the clutch.
It doesn’t help that Ginebra had a poor outing from the charity stripe on a 22-of-37 clip, while also going 5-of-16 from the field and committing seven turnovers in the final frame, all of which allowed TNT to swing the result to its favor.
“We had so many turnovers,” said Tenorio. “We have to take care of the ball especially to teams like TNT who takes advantage of those turnovers.”
Ginebra committed 25 miscues in the game, leading to 29 easy points for the KaTropa.
Tenorio also shut down the notion of the Gin Kings playing sluggish due to first-game jitters.
“I don’t think that’s an excuse. During the start, we did but when we led, we were feeling ok. We just relaxed and that was where the problem was.”
The veteran playmaker now looks at the off-days as a chance for Ginebra to further mesh together as they plot to bounce back in its game against Rain or Shine next Sunday.
“We will use this long break to learn from our mistakes. We’ll take advantage of that, especially for the new players,” he said. “Hopefully, next Sunday, we get our first win.”