No need to panic assures Ginebra’s Tenyente
Disappointment was etched all over the faces of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Wednesday night as they each made their way out from the team’s locker room inside the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The Barangay have every right to be chagrin that night. Moments prior to them heading home, Ginebra just absorbed a 78-74 defeat to the Star Hotshots in Game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinal series.
One of those dismayed is none other than Ginebra’s top floor general LA Tenorio, who was held down to just a sub-par eight points, 5.8 points below his elimination round norms, due to the plethora of guards Star covered him with.
“Tough loss for us,” the 32-year-old told. “But again it’s a series — game of adjustments. Next game we’ll make our adjustments and do the little things.
“We didn’t do the things [the way] we did in our last game, that’s why we were not successful in this game.”
It was indeed a bitter pill to swallow for the Barangay, who had numerous chances, especially in the end-game, to tie things up — or to even sneak past for the victory. However, Tenorio rued the team’s loss of urgency in Game 1.
“No sense of urgency for us in this game. More on effort talaga e. It’s not about the gameplan anymore, it’s about the effort,” pointed the 10-year veteran.
“Nakita niyo naman ang daming loose balls, ang daming offensive rebounds na nakukuha nila. Mga 50/50 balls nakukuha nila. ‘Pag playoffs it’s about effort,” added Tenorio, regarding the 17 offensive boards Star had that led to eight second chance points.
Another factor that made it a long night for Ginebra was the Hotshots’ heavy guard rotation, and the five-foot-eight point guard admitted that Star’s guards — spearheaded by Paul Lee — were all tough to handle.
“Medyo mahirap kasi ang dami nila e. Lahat sila threat pa. Tulad ng sinabi ko last time, our game plan is to stop the guards of Star. Mahirap pero we’ll see kung ano ang puwede naming gawin na adjustments,” shared Tenorio.
The Barangay truly had a hard time stopping Star’s guards. Lee finished with 18 points, while Mark Barroca supplied 17. Jio Jalalon and Justin Melton had six and five, respectively, with Jalalon grabbing nine rebounds as well.
Now that the opening salvo of the Manila Clasico series has already concluded, Tenorio and Ginebra’s mindset is already locked in for Game 2, and he hopes for minimal lapses from him and the team the next time around.
“Move on. Hindi pa tapos yung season namin by losing this game. We need to get back on track at gawin lang yung mga dapat namin gawin,” the two-time Finals MVP added.
“Ang dami lang namin lapses, ako personally madami. Next game, we have to tighten our focus sa game plan namin.
“We really have to be smart in everything that we do. It’s not just about playing hard, it’s about playing smart. Hindi lang puro lakas,” the Batangueño voiced.
