LA shakes off jitters in first game back and looks forward to boosting Hotshots in playoffs
LA Tenorio has 20 years of playing experience in the PBA, winning multiple titles and individual accolades in a career that is the envy of many, not only because of its longevity but also by the way he impacted the game.
But on Sunday afternoon, when he started for Magnolia to come out of retirement as the Hotshots’ player-coach, that rookie feeling was there again. He was, in his words, jittery.
“Of course, there were a few jitters,” Tenorio told reporters after a 94-83 loss to TNT in the Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But the veteran in him took over after a few minutes.
“But I’ve been doing this for my entire career,” Tenorio added as the Hotshots failed to make it to the upper half of the playoff qualifiers to earn a crack at a semifinal slot, but needing to beat a higher-ranked foe, which in their case would again be TNT, and needing to win two straight times.
“Before, even when I was still playing, it’s like I was coaching the younger players already,” he said. “I guess the leadership inside the court has always been there.”
The Tropang 5G made sure Tenorio had a hard time on the floor and negating the energy that he would bring. They limited Tenorio to just four points, three assists and two rebounds in 13 minutes on the floor.
There have only been a handful of playing coaches in the PBA, and none of them was bigger than the legendary Sonny Jaworski, who won titles with Barangay Ginebra and later on Añejo Rum.
Big disadvantage
Norman Black was also a coach and import at one time for San Miguel Beer and Tenorio would be following great acts in his comeback.
And he is looking forward to the quarterfinals, where he will likely suit up again and play even more minutes with two of his regular point guards out of commission.
“We lost two guards and one of them is Paul Lee, who is one of our leaders,” Tenorio said. “I wanted to give this team a little help inside the court.
“We had a lot of lapses, especially defensively, and we need to [address] that heading into the quarterfinals,” he went on. “We’ll be in the bottom four, but for sure, we’ll be ready.”
On Saturday, Magnolia and TNT clash again at the same venue.
