LA Tenorio used Game Five to redeem himself after a scoreless outing back in Game Four. The 33-year-old unloaded 17 points, helping the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel move to a win away from repeating as Governors’ Cup champions with an 85-74 win.
The 11-year veteran may have been able to bounce back, but there is another challenge for him: spending longer minutes on the court.
The five-foot-eight floor general played a total of 40 minutes and 30 seconds in Game Five — much higher than his average playing time of around 32 minutes in the first four outings of the championship series.
His extended minutes are understandable, as fellow backcourt player Sol Mercado had been ruled out for Sunday night due to a left ankle injury. But despite that, the two-time champion has no problems with this.
“Actually, coach Tim [Cone] was apologizing to me because [of] extended minutes. But I don’t care, This is the championship,” declared Tenorio, who is still nursing an elbow injury, after the match at the Philippine Arena.
“I’ll just rest after the series. If I have to play for forty-eight minutes, I’m ready,” added one of the all-time Ateneo greats.
“I told him, even next game [I can play longer]. We don’t have Sol now, so I’m ready to extend my minutes.”
Tenorio did not really look weary at all after the bout. There is little to no reason to be fatigued, as the Gin Kings have the opportunity to close out the Meralco Bolts and retain their crown in Game Six this Wednesday.
But before fully setting their sights in doing so, the Gilas Pilipinas legend hopes that he and the whole Barangay can bring the same amount of aggressiveness they had Sunday night come Wednesday.
“Hopefully next game, madala namin ‘tong aggressiveness na ‘to,” said Tenorio, who is averaging 11 points and 3.8 dimes in the series. “We know na what to do, so we did what we’re supposed to do. Next game, we’ll bring it.
“But for sure, they’re going to adjust, so we just have to double our effort if we want to close out the series.”
