Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Barangay Ginebra may have just found its killer five as coach Tim Cone experimented with his bigs on Sunday.
With LA Tenorio being the lone true guard, the Gin Kings trotted out a towering lineup of import Justin Brownlee, Joe Devance, Japeth Aguilar, and Greg Slaughter for the better half of the third quarter.
That particular lineup caused major problems for GlobalPort as Ginebra went on to cruise to a 124-108 win.
And it could also serve as bad news for the rest of the league that it may not be the last time the PBA will see that five-man combination.
“We’re playing really good with that lineup out there,” said Slaughter. “We’re able to impose our presence, but we still need a lot of things to figure out.”
The Cebuano giant flourished playing alongside his fellow bigs, but said that much of the praise should be on Tenorio, who ran the show for his other four teammates on the floor.
“We got to give a lot of credit to our littlest guy, LA. He came out with an amazing game, made things easy for us, and we had a good game for everyone,” he said.
Slaughter also deserves to have his fare share of the limelight, coming off the bench and racking up 19 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks as he sparked the blowout in just his second game back since returning from his ACL injury.
“It’s always good to win,” he said after Meralco spoiled his return, 93-78, last week.
Slaughter admitted he’s still getting his bearings back and said he’s embracing whatever role Cone gives him even if it means he has to come off the bench again.
“Whatever coach Tim wants from me, I’ll do it. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to fill in with the team. Whatever role it might be, I’ll do it to the best of my abilities. Whether I start or come off the bench, I’m just going to be always ready every game,” he said.
“It’s going to be a conference of adjustments for us. We’re not there yet, and we got a lot of way to go. We got a lot of people going through some things, but we’re going to find our chemistry to make it work.”