A win is a win
In the first three games of their semifinals series against the Star Hotshots and their plethora of guards, LA Tenorio has struggled to find good looks.
Tuesday evening, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel finally scored a breakthrough win over the Hotshots Monday night to avoid a 0-3 hole. However, the 5-foot-8 floor general was once again kept silent by Star, finishing with just seven points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Prior to Game Three, Tenorio also produced numbers below his average of 23.5 points in their quarterfinal affair with Alaska, scoring just eight points in Game One, while the next game saw him finish with just seven markers.
But for Ginebra coach Tim Cone, it all stems from the fact that Star has made his ace guard one of their focal points on defense.
“They’ve targeted LA and done a great job on him,” shared Cone, who previously coached the Star Hotshots two season back.
Tenorio’s drop in numbers may be alarming. But for the 10-year veteran, his low offensive outputs lately is not much of a concern of his, pointing out that scoring is something he does not force. Moreover, the 11-year veteran has turned Star’s focus on him into a weapon.
“Alam naman kasi namin kung ano ang ginagawa nila sa amin ni Japeth [Aguilar] eh, so I’m playing some sort of decoy. I’m not really looking to [score],” said the 32-year=old
“Sometimes, siyempre I’m forcing myself to be aggressive offensively, but most of the time, nagde-decoy talaga ako. Kasi wala rin akong magagawa eh.”
Furthermore, Tenorio does not see the need to score in bunches, as Ginebra has enough scorers who can carry the load on offense.
“Maraming sumasalo eh, so ako, I’ll try my best to be a decoy. Good thing, mga teammates ko nandiyan. Tiwala naman ako sa kanila eh.
“They will step up talaga even our bench players. Sana magtuloy-tuloy yung kumpiyansa,” the Batangueno hoped.
