Coach Tim Cone said veteran Barangay Ginebra guard LA Tenorio broached the idea of relegating himself to the reserve list.
The American explained that the 40-year-old long-time playmaker felt the need to focus on his new job as head coach of Gilas Pilipinas Youth, which is preparing for the SEABA qualifiers for the FIBA Under-16 Asia Cup on May 24-30 in Pampanga.
“He was actually the one who came to me and said, ‘Do you want to put somebody on? I’ll come down and be on reserve if you want to activate somebody else,'” Cone told media men, moments after Ginebra ran roughshod against NorthPort on Wednesday at the Philsports Arena. “He’ll not be able to play this month and he won’t be able to attend the games,” Cone said of Tenorio.
And given that majority of the Gilas Pilipinas Youth members attend school during day time, practice time will be held mostly from 6 p.m. onwards.
“He (Tenorio) just felt he could miss practices for our games,” added Cone.
The open communication allowed Cone to make the decision easier, as he relegated Tenorio to the UFAWR2S (unrestricted free agent with rights to salary), while allowing Jayson David to take his spot.
David then took that opportunity with great confidence, scoring 25 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point zone, while grabbing nine rebounds in Ginebra’s solid bounce-back win against NorthPort on April 30.
Cone honored David for his hard work in the last three seasons he has been with the Gin Kings.
“He has paid the price and has done what he needed to do,” Cone said, in commending the former Lyceum Pirate.
“He’s the guy that comes to work everyday. He was the MVP (for the players) of the preseason.”
Cone said with the loaded guard rotation they had at Ginebra, David couldn’t really find a spot, something the American coach had been trying to do these past years.
“We wanted to find ways to get him to the lineup but we don’t want to remove our veterans,” said the multi-titled PBA coach.
“When LA had to take a break to focus on coaching with the junior Gilas, it opened up an avenue for Jayson. Something we wanted to do for quite a while.”
Once Tenorio finishes his coaching duties with the Gilas Pilipinas Youth team, they plan to reactivate the veteran Ginebra star right away.