TIM Cone didn’t mince words about keeping Jayson David on the Barangay Ginebra lineup even once veteran guard LA Tenorio returns to the team’s active roster.
“We hope we can open up a spot for Jayson to stay in the lineup. Obviously, he needs to stay as well as he’s playing,” said the Gin Kings coach after their 131-106 blasting of NorthPort where David finished with 25 points in his first game since being activated for the PBA Philippine Cup.
The door of opportunity opened for the 6-foot-3 David after Tenorio voluntarily allowed Ginebra to put him on the unrestricted free agency list (with rights to salary) in order to concentrate on his coaching duty with Gilas Pilipinas Youth.
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David, who both played for San Sebastian and Lyceum in college, didn’t waste time showing what he can bring to the table for the Gin Kings, shooting a near perfect 8-of-9 from the floor while going 4-of-4 from three-point range. He added nine rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes of play.
READ: Ginebra gets back to winning ways with 25-point rout of NorthPort
For Cone, the numbers were no longer surprising.
“He paid his dues. He played like he plays in practice. It wasn’t anything that’s actually special. He does that in practice every day,” said the multi-titled coach of the player selected by Ginebra in the second round of the Season 47 Draft.
“He has obviously done things that he needed to do, he’s a guy who really comes to work every day.”
Opportunity meets preparation for David
Having seen how David works hard in practice has had Cone thinking about inserting him into the active roster for quite a while.
Unfortunately, the opportunity wouldn’t allow it to happen.
“We’ve been trying to find ways to get him into the lineup. It’s just a difficult thing with a talented team like Ginebra,” said Cone.
Eventually, the stars aligned for David, as Tenorio had to take a break from the team and paved the way for the 28-year-old workhorse to be activated.
“So when LA had to take a break to focus on his coaching with the junior national team, it opened up an avenue for Jayson,” Cone pointed out. “But this is something that we wanted to do for quite a while, to get Jayson into the lineup.”
Now, the next move is to keep David in the lineup even with the comeback of Tenorio a month later.
Quite a good problem for Cone and his coaching staff.
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