Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone kept the faith that LA Tenorio would be able to keep his ironman streak alive, even after undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy a couple of weeks prior to the PBA season restart.
In an earlier interview with Tiebreaker Times, the league’s most accomplished mentor described the decorated floor general’s situation as “touch and go”, although he believed Tenorio capable of keeping his record alive.
The Batangueño cager has played in a record 641 consecutive games. He has never missed an outing since being drafted by the San Miguel Beermen in the 2006 PBA Draft.
“It will be touch and go, but if anyone can do it, it will be LA,” Cone said.
Sunday came. And yes, Tenorio did play.
The 36-year-old, along with star forward Japeth Aguilar, had only joined the Gin Kings’ scrimmages on Saturday night. But he checked in with 2:55 remaining in the opening frame of their clash versus NLEX.
Tenorio surprisingly logged in 11 minutes and 57 seconds, and even collected a couple of rebounds in the match which the Barangay won, 102-92, for a successful Philippine Cup debut.
Cone didn’t deny that his long-time guard isn’t his usual self. Still, he tipped his hat to Tenorio for playing, even if he’s just two weeks removed from surgery.
“LA was struggling out there a little bit. He wasn’t his normal self, but you gotta give him that tremendous courage for coming out and playing two weeks from surgery. That’s just him. He doesn’t wanna miss anything,” he said.
“But we tried to monitor him, watching him with an eagle eye to make sure he wasn’t hurt. But he looked alright in the game. He just was rusty.”
