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PINABULAANAN ng superstar point guard ng Barangay Ginebra San Miguel na si LA Tenorio na may away silang dalawa ng kapwa niyang superstar na si Mark Caguioa.
Noong Lunes ay lumabas ang ulat sa programang PTV Sports ng Channel 4 na matagal na naghihidwaan sina Tenorio at Caguioa na isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit nalasap ng tatlong sunod na pagkatalo ang Kings bago sila nanalo kontra Alaska, 101-92, kinabukasan.
Ilang mga tagahanga ng Ginebra ang nagsabing dapat na raw itapon ng Kings si Tenorio dahil umano’y sa pagiging mayabang nito.
“Na-misinterpret lang siguro (tungkol sa away namin ni Caguioa),” pahayag ni Tenorio sa ilang mga taga-media sa dugout ng Ginebra sa Mall of Asia Arena sa Pasay. “Nagsisigawan kami ni Mark sa practice kasi kaming mga veterans sa team, we want to set an example to the younger players about our leadership. Kailangan naming ipakita ang leadership sa practice and we’re out there to play and compete. The whole team was struggling but the most important thing is that we’re back on the winning track.”
Nagtala si Tenorio ng 21 puntos para pangunahan ang Kings sa panalo kontra Aces at bago ang laro, nag-average lang siya ng 6.4 puntos bawat laro.
“Kailangan yung mga fans, i-respeto nila kami,” ani Tenorio tungkol sa banat ng mga tagahanga ng Ginebra sa kanya. “Part of it, yung bad showing namin, motivation ko to play well. Pero it’s not just me, but the whole team.”
Naintindihan naman ni Ginebra coach Jeffrey Cariaso ang sitwasyon ni Tenorio dahil ilang taon silang nagkasama sa Alaska sa ilalim ni dating coach Tim Cone.
“A lot of people had been hard on LA because of his status being a national player and people expect him to contribute,” ani Cariaso. “Even while we were losing, he was playing his regular point guard position and running our offense. I wasn’t worried on him not making too many shots. It was just that the other guys were missing their shots. And in fairness to him, he is handling everything well. We never talked about it (problema ni Tenorio).”
Samantala, natuwa si Cariaso sa ipinakita ng kanyang tropa kontra Alaska at umaasa siya na ganito rin ang mangyayari sa Kings kontra Rain or Shine sa huli nilang asignatura sa elimination round sa Linggo.
“Rain or Shine is a tough team and it is always a challenge to play them. But we’re peaking at the right time. We had to bring our A-game against Alaska and I hope we bring that same attitude against them. Our mantra is defense which we did well against Alaska and we take pride in doing that. After a certain point, you get tired of losing,” pagtatapos ni Cariaso. (James Ty III)
