LA Tenorio
LA Tenorio nearly had a double-double—9 rebounds and 10 assists—in his victorious debut for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Sunday.
Those were indeed terrific statistics, but nobody also seemed to mind that the spitfire guard managed to grab the night’s MVP honor despite contributing only two points.
In fact, a big chunk of the record overflow crowd came running to Smart Araneta Coliseum to see how Tenorio would fit into the fabulous fiery Ginebra set-up.
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Tenorio did grope at the start when, he confessed, he felt a little out of place.
His team could’ve also rolled on to a convenient win without him.
But that was a master stroke from coach Siot Tanquincen.
Tenorio’s late heroics turned the one-sided game into a celebration—not only for Ginebra but for the Philippine Cup whose opening on Sunday drew the record turnout promised by PBA commissioner Chito Salud.
Tenorio neatly demonstrated he’s capable of delivering for Ginebra the way he did for the Smart Gilas-Pilipinas squad that won the Jones Cup in Taipei last month.
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Anyway, if the partisan attendance felt the semblance of a younger Bobby Jaworski invading the backcourt again on Sunday, it was due to the emergence of a brand-new team leader.
Tenorio’s all-around worth was surpassed only by his amazing selflessness.
There were several instances when, after eluding his men, Tenorio could’ve zoomed in for clear baskets.
He opted for nifty passes, in the process making several teammates, including the returning Mark Caguioa, look super again if just in the homestretch.
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And to think LA only had one scrimmage with Ginebra prior to the opening-day assignment.
Things did not simply fall into place in Tenorio’s case.
It was all a product of hard work, lots of hard work, more hard work.
This sounds not too different from the tested Jaworski excellence tenet.
Of course, there’s no telling how Jaworski, the original chieftain, reacted to the bright addition in Barangay Ginebra.
In his last comment, the Big J noted that Ginebra was a good, strong team.
He was, however, quick to add that the team he turned into the single most popular franchise in the PBA could also do better with more consistency.
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One great game doesn’t say it all and it would be hard to determine how high Tenorio could continue soaring for Ginebra.
In fact, Petron Blaze team manager Ely Capacio, main cog in the PBA board of governors, swore instant team additions, just like band-aid cures, are no sure-fire solutions.
Minus the proper spade work, this rush-rush ploy could misfire any night out there.
Capacio, self-made top manager who has filled all slots in a basketball squad from player, manager, coach, even ball boy, readily pointed out how Tenorio, the national squad for that matter, suddenly slipped and sputtered against the full-house Iran team in the Tokyo Fiba-Asia Cup.
That Iranian team, just like Shin Dong-pa and other old Asian stars like Masatomo Taniguchi, did not happen overnight, Capacio swore.
Capacio was hinting that, more than Ginebra, there should be other PBA squads who had done proper spade work.
Was it his own Petron Blaze, Rain or Shine, Talk ‘N Text?
No comment.