Jan 11, 2019

Tenorio eight games away from 'Iron Man' title

LA Tenorio is on the verge of breaking Alvin Patrimonio's record for consecutive games played.

All he has to do is to stay healthy and avoid any serious injury in the first eight games of PBA Philippine Cup which starts Sunday.

Right. The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel guard needs just eight more games in the eliminations of the league's season opening conference to erase Patrimonio's mark of 596 straight games which the ex-Purefoods superstar compiled from 1992 until his retirement in 2004.

While his main focus is to help Ginebra win the season's most prestigious crown, Tenorio couldn't help but express the importance of potentially becoming the PBA's newest "Iron Man."

"I saw him play before and go-hard siya kung maglaro kahit na iba yung physicality that time, so I'm gonna be very happy pag nakuha ko yun," Tenorio said.

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"For me, that's gonna be my MVP trophy kasi hindi madaling gawin yun dahil maraming factors, hindi siya madaling gawin," added Tenorio, who has never missed a game since being drafted by the San Miguel Beermen in the 2006 Draft.

The three-time Finals Most Valuable Player has played 589 career games with San Miguel (2006-2008), Alaska (2008-2012) and Ginebra (2012-present).

Tenorio, however, kept insisting that winning his first All-Filipino crown is what motivates him going into his 13th pro season.

All of Tenorio's championships have come in import-laden conferences: 2010 Fiesta Conference for Alaska and the 2016 and 2017 Governors' Cup and 2018 Commissioner's Cup with Ginebra.

"My focus is really to get my first All-Filipino championship sa PBA," he said. "Sana mabigyan ng chance na darating yung record tapos manalo kami ng All-Filipino, it's gonna be a perfect time talaga."

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Ginebra, which will also be led by Japeth Aguilar, Greg Slaughter and Scottie Thompson, launches its title bid in Sunday's season-opener against TNT KaTropa at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan. (JT)