As Bay Area’s hopes rise for Nicholson return, Ginebra worries over Tenorio’s status

Bay Area sputtered against Barangay Ginebra on Saturday night, suffering a 101-91 loss that put the Dragons’ championship aspirations in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup in jeopardy.

Brian Goorjian and his charges now trail their best-of-seven title series, three games to two, but the Aussie mentor is barely audible despite his current state.

And for good reason.

“I’m proud of the way the guys kept fighting,” he said as he exited the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. “I’m proud that we have some guys, that we don’t [usually] play, get a chance [tonight].”

“Scotty Ewing, Qilong Zheng … guys who haven’t played minutes yet, and they performed well,” he continued.

Added depth

Ewing and Zheng both averaged four points during the midseason performance, but with import Andrew Nicholson and captain Glen Yang both sidelined with ankle problems, the backups each become a twin score that should be good for the visitors.

“I like it because it adds depth [for us going] to the next game,” Goorjian said.

Aside from the welcome contributions from the seldom-used players, Goorjian also drew attention to the possibility of Bay Area playing strong in Wednesday’s Game 6.

“If there’s an opportunity, we’ll roll the dice. I put it 50-50 there,” he said of Nicholson’s status. “And I put 75-25 on it [Yang].”

As of Wednesday’s tipoff, Nicholson will be out for nearly a week with the injury, meaning the Canadian will need to strengthen the left ankle he injured in Game 3.

When it started to look up for the guest crew, Gin Kings, on the other hand, grapple with uncertainty.

“IN [Tenorio] every day with an abdominal strain,” Tim Cone told the Inquirer on Monday. “He could be asked to play on Wednesday.”

Tenorio was seen limping as he left the bayside arena that night. He has played about 30 minutes per contest, but suited up for nearly 20 minutes in Game 5, finishing with eight points.

“He was key to what we did, especially in the playoffs,” Cone said. “He’s our leader, he’s our ball handler, he’s our organizer. He’s our big-shot guy. He’s also our emotional leader.

“We’re going to lose everything if he doesn’t get a chance to play,” he said. INQ

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