Tyler Tio gushed upon learning about the praises that came from none other than Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone for his exploits as of late.
“I don’t know about that, but definitely an honor to hear that from coach Tim Cone, one of the best, if not the best coach in the Philippines,” he said.
The PBA’s winningest mentor said previously that the Phoenix Super LPG rookie is ‘turning into a superstar’ after tallying career-highs of 26 points and seven assists in the Fuel Masters’ 111-97 win over NLEX last October 8.
That performance helped the beleaguered ball club break through in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup but Cone has been watching the Ateneo product since shooting the lights out in a tuneup prior to the conference.
“Well, we got beat up in a practice game by them before the conference started. That was before Jamie [Orme] had joined the team. But we got beat up by 31 points in a practice game with them. Tyler Tio just destroyed us,” he recalled. “He had 34 points and nine threes or something like that. We are totally aware. They came out and beat NLEX last night. Topex has that team playing really well. They lost Matthew Wright and Jason Perkins, but they’re still finding ways to win.
“They’re spreading the floor well and shooting the ball well. Tyler Tio is turning into a superstar,” Cone furthered.
“And, what, he was a backup at Ateneo? Amazing how good Ateneo is. Their backups come into the PBA as superstars.”
Phoenix and Ginebra crossed paths anew on Friday night, and Tio went on to live up to such a lofty billing with yet another solid outing.
The 5-foot-11 gunner out of Ateneo shot 8-of-11 from the field on the way to 17 points and seven assists, helping steer the Fuel Masters to a 101-93 stunner of the crowd darlings for their second win in a row.
Tio, however, said that his game was by no means a statement of sorts, that he and the rest of the squad were simply fired up to play the Kings.
“I wouldn’t say that,” said the reigning Player of the Week. “Obviously, we wanted to win, and playing against Ginebra, it’s always a big game. Definitely.
“The crowd, because what Ginebra means to the country and countrymen. It’s definitely a big game but I wouldn’t say it’s a statement game. But we definitely wanted to win,” added Tio as Phoenix improved to 2-3 in the standings.
Furthermore, he isn’t thinking much about the ‘superstar’ tag by Cone, insisting that there remains a lot of work ahead of him.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much because obviously, there’s work to be done, it’s a long season and anything can happen. I’m just going to focus on the next practice and the next game,” said the 24-year-old product of Ateneo.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
