Tenorio says Gin Kings should take some load off Brownlee’s shoulders

MANILA, Philippines — LA Tenorio has bottomless praise for Justin Brownlee. After all, Barangay Ginebra has been able to win two season-ending conference titles with him. Heck, if not for the latter, the Gin Kings wouldn’t be able to mount a turnaround midway in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup and reach the finals.

But Tenorio, ever the cautious warrior, opined that the Gin Kings should not be too reliant on their reinforcement.

“He’s been great but we can’t rely on just that,” he shared to the press last Friday.

Brownlee is the lone Gin King who had been producing at a consistent pace in their series against San Miguel. First dropping 42 points, he then had 29 in Game Two. The scoring machine went on to tally 32 in Game 3 before posting an efficiently-shot 37 on Friday.

Joe Devance had been close, producing double digits in all but one of the first four outings. Tenorio, for his part, arrested a fluctuating showing by finally dropping 28 in Game Four.

“This game is not good enough for us to win again. We're expecting a stronger San Miguel tulad nung ginawa nila nung Game Two at Game Three,” Tenorio said, explaining why such an attitude is imperative.

The PBA’s diminutive Iron Man went on to add that being able to level the playing field at two wins each doesn’t also afford them poise as defeating the Beermen isn’t defeat.

“We cannot say na confidence booster samin (itong win). I think nagkaroon lang kami ng chance, kahit sobrang confident kami every game, beating San Miguel is not easy, alam naman natin lahat ‘yan,” he said. “But it's nice to have a second win against San Miguel and we're tied.”

Tenorio hopes they could just replicate the performance in Game Four — which is to go out with guns blazing early.

“‘Yung start talaga nagse-set ng tone eh, the way we look at the games,” he noted. “We always expect close games every game, ‘di rin namin inexpect na magiging ganito talaga.”

“We just need a one-point win, ‘yun lang kailangan namin. What's important is we get the W,” he said.

The Gin Kings would shoot for one more on Sunday night when they go at it with the Beermen again at 6:30 p.m. at the Big Dome.