By JONAS TERRADO
LA Tenorio described newly-minted Best Player of the Conference Stanley Pringle as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s PBA Philippine Cup version of Justin Brownlee.
Tenorio said Pringle’s import-like performance proved to be a major reason why the Kings were able to rule the two-month PBA bubble.
“He’s our ‘Justin Brownlee’ in the all-Filipino. He’s our import,” Tenorio said in a recent interview with One Sports’ The Game. “He plays like an import. And he works like an import also.”
Ginebra’s previous title runs before the recent conference came with Brownlee reinforcing the squad to three Governors’ Cup and one Commissioner’s Cup triumphs.
With Brownlee not around, the Kings had to work doubly hard to prove that it can claim the PBA’s top prize on their own.
And Pringle did just that by leading Ginebra to a 4-0 start before keeping his consistency until the time LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar were able to shake off early rust.
“Basically, Stan brought us in a good position in the playoffs when Japeth and I were not ready yet, not in good shape yet. He basically carried the team,” said Tenorio. “Sobrang laking bagay na si Stanley was healthy all the time.”
Pringle claimed his biggest individual award yet when he was named BPC in Sunday’s PBA Special Awards, edging out Phoenix Super LPG’s Matthew Wright in the closest race ever.
