By Jonas Terrado
LA Tenorio described the possibility of breaking Alvin Patrimonio’s record for consecutive games played like winning an MVP award, but insisted that his main concern is to help Barangay Ginebra San Miguel capture the PBA Philippine Cup which begins this Sunday.
Tenorio is eight games shy of shattering Patrimonio’s mark of 596 straight appearances, a feat which the 13-year guard can achieve in Ginebra’s match against Phoenix on March 10 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Patrimonio had publicly encouraged Tenorio to go after his record which lasted from 1992 until his retirement in 2004.
“I saw him (Patrimonio) play before and I saw how hard he plays every game despite the level of physicality during his time,” Tenorio said in Filipino when asked of the impending record during Thursday’s PBA Media Day at The Tent at Solaire in Paranaque City.
“I’m gonna be very happy if I get that record. For me, that’s my MVP trophy because it’s not an easy thing to pull off because of the many factors,” added Tenorio, who has never missed a game since making his PBA debut for San Miguel Beer in 2006.
But getting the record is far from the major goal Tenorio wants to achieve going into Ginebra’s campaign in the PBA’s 44th season which begins this Sunday with the Kings taking on TNT KaTropa at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Ginebra is tipped as one of the contenders for the season’s most important crown with Tenorio teaming up with Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson, though San Miguel is favored to capture a fifth successive Philippine Cup after acquiring Terrence Romeo in the offseason.
“My focus is really to get my first All-Filipino,” said Tenorio, who has lost all three Philippine Cup Finals appearances during stints with San Miguel (2006-07), Alaska (2010) and Ginebra (2017).
