Slaughter to thrive in triangle

Take it from Barangay Ginebra point guard L. A. Tenorio who said the other day teammate Greg Slaughter could put up JuneMar Fajardo-like numbers once he plays in tune to the music of new coach Tim Cone’s triangle offense.

But Tenorio was quick to qualify that Slaughter is different from Fajardo and a comparison would be unfair to both. “I don’t think it’s right to compare Greg with JuneMar,” he said. “JuneMar is an athletic player who makes good use of his build and height while Greg is a skilled player. With the triangle, I expect Greg to become a much better player. Once he learns the triangle, he can be a dominant player. I think he’ll do very well in the triangle.”

Slaughter, 27, is close to 7-foot tall while Fajardo, 25, is 6-10, almost 6-11. Even if their height is exaggerated, they’re still the two tallest Filipino centers in the PBA today. Fajardo, the league’s reigning MVP, has sprinted ahead of Slaughter in their race for honors. Last season, Fajardo ranked No. 3 in scoring with a 17.4 clip and No. 1 in rebounding with a 12.8 norm. Slaughter was No. 6 in scoring with 14.8 points a game and No. 2 in rebounding at 10.3. The big difference was in field goal percentage where Fajardo was No. 1 with 59.1 percent and Slaughter didn’t make it to the top 10 with 49.4 percent.

Tenorio said not only the Ginebra youngsters like Japeth Aguilar, Chris Ellis and Slaughter will benefit from Cone’s wisdom but also the experienced veterans like Mark Caguioa and JayJay Helterbrand. “We’ll all be better players,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to work with a coach of his caliber. Coach Tim is a born teacher, he’s patient, very detailed. He likes to teach, he’ll pound it until you know how to get things done the right way. For me, it’s back to the triangle which I learned in 5 1/2 years with coach Tim at Alaska. This is our chance to get to the next level. We’re not thinking championship at the moment. We just want to make it back to the semifinals then go from there.”

Last season was way below par for Ginebra and that is Tenorio’s biggest concern. As one of the team leaders, he feels accountable for the poor performance. In the Philippine Cup, Ginebra finished fifth with a 7-6 record. In the Commissioner’s Cup, it fell to eighth at 5-7. In the Governors Cup, it was another eighth place finish with a 5-7 mark. Overall, Ginebra posted a 17-20 record, a winning clip of 45.9 percent – the team’s lowest since 2003. The previous campaign, the record was 23-20 or a winning mark of 53.5 percent with a Final Four appearance in the Philippine Cup. This past season, Ginebra failed to make it out of the quarterfinals and missed the semifinals in every conference.

Tenorio said he hopes to make things right this season. Unfortunately, his decision to focus on Ginebra has meant sacrificing his slot in the Gilas lineup. Tenorio stressed that it’s just a temporary exit. He promised to be back wearing the national colors at the next opportunity if coach Tab Baldwin allows it. Tenorio said if he’s not invited back to the pool, he’ll try out for a slot anyway.

As for his own game, Tenorio said his goal is to improve his decision-making on the floor. “It’s something you work on to perfect,” he said. “It’s not like shooting or some technical thing.  My level of performance wasn’t how I wanted it to be last season. That’s why I need to concentrate fully on Ginebra. At first, I wanted to play for Gilas. But with a new Ginebra coach, there will be a lot of things to work on.”

Tenorio said he was surprised that Cone’s predecessor Frankie Lim lasted only one conference. “I thought coach Frankie did okay,” he said. “It was just tough luck that we started the Governors Cup with Greg and Japeth injured. After we played our last game, we all promised to work harder next season.”

Slaughter sat out the first five games and Aguilar the first four in the third conference. Then, Caguioa went down and missed the last four. Ellis never got to play at all. Despite the bumps, Ginebra finished the eliminations with back-to-back wins and squeezed into the quarterfinals as the No. 8 seed. Ginebra, handicapped by a twice-to-win disadvantage, put up a strong stand against No. 1 Alaska in the playoffs but lost, 114-108, to end its season.

Cone said tempering expectations may be the biggest hurdle not so much for himself but for the players. “There are uncommon pressures that come with coaching and playing for Ginebra that playing for other teams don’t have,” he said. “If the players are going to play at their maximum ability, they’ll have to be able to use the pressure properly. Our goal will always be to get to the Finals and win a championship but prior to that, our focus will be to build a solid foundation on which to build from. You can’t short-cut your way to a championship. There’s a process and that’s something we will be serious about.”

In the coming draft, Tenorio said he’s not sure whom Cone will pick. “Maybe, he’ll choose someone who can play three or four or both,” he said. “I don’t know what coach Tim has in mind. It will also depend on who’s available when we pick.  If we’re looking for a legitimate three or four player, it would be Troy Rosario or a Glenn Khobuntin.” Ginebra has the fifth and 16th picks in the draft this Sunday.

Four teams will pick before Ginebra. Talk ‘N’ Text has the first choice and the Texters are expected to tap Moala Tautuaa. Then, the Mahindra Enforcers, formerly Kia, will take their turn, assuming they don’t trade the slot away. The second overall choice will likely be Rosario. Rain Or Shine has the third pick who could be Khobuntin or Art de la Cruz or Chris Newsome since there’s a vacancy in the three spot with Jervy Cruz’ trade to Globalport. The Elasto Painters got Jewel Ponferada in the Cruz deal so they probably won’t go for a big guy although Norbert Torres is an attractive proposition. Meralco bolstered its backcourt with Jimmy Alapag’s return so coach Norman Black may target Newsome if the Painters leave him available. That would give Ginebra the option of choosing Khobuntin or De la Cruz or Torres, any of whom could play the four spot with Aguilar at three and Slaughter at five.