Tenorio wants to help Aces win PBA title

LA Tenorio has helped his basketball teams win titles at every level he has competed in whether it’s in the semipro PBL with Harbour Centre, in college with the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles in the UAAP, or in high school with the San Bed Red Cubs in the NCAA.

It is therefore understandable why he feels an urgency to help the Alaska Aces win the championship of the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup.

“Iyon nga, gusto kong matulungan ang Alaska win another PBA title,” said Tenorio. “Iyon talaga ang goal ko this season. Gusto kong maka-experience ng PBA championship. Sana nga this conference magkatotoo ang pangarap ko.”

Born to parents of Batangas stock in Nasugbu, Tenorio grew up with the intense desire to succeed. He put to good use his God-given assets. Although he wasn’t that tall he had extraordinary big hands and feet.

Alaska coach Tim Cone even jokes that Tenorio had the hands and feet of a seven-footer.

As early as his elementary at Don Bosco, Makati he was already a star in the Small Basketeers Philippines Passerelle division. He has always been very agile, playing very fast and intelligent basketball.

For his high school education he enrolled at San Beda College. He came under the coaching of Ato Badolato. Tenorio learned the intricacies of playing basketball with a team and bringing out the best from teammates under Badolato.

After passing the rigorous Ateneo College Entrance Test Tenorio was ready to tackle the academic subjects with the high QPI requirements. More importantly for him he was encouraged to be the best point guard in the UAAP because of the attention of the Jesuits in their sports program.

As a rookie with the Ateneo Blue Eagles, Tenorio played his best in the finals in 2001. He scored 30 point in the third game of the championship even though Ateneo lost the championship to the De La Salle University Green Archers.

The Blue Eagles won the championship in 2002 as they defeated La Salle . He played five seasons with the Loyola squad. In 2006 he also won his Bachelor of Arts degree that he considers his very important achievement.

After college Tenorio joined the Harbour Centre Portmasters team in the Philippine Basketball League, the quasi-commercial basketball league in the country. He helped Harbour Centre win the 2006 PBL championship.

During his stint in the PBL Tenorio was among the top five scorers of the league with 11.4 points per game. He topped the assist department with 3.84 a game and 3.8 rebounds.

In the 2006 PBA Rookie Draft Tenorio was the 4th over-all draft pick by the Magnolia Beverage Masters (now San Miguel Beer). He played an average of 25.5 minutes for Magnolia with a respectable average of 7.8 points, 4.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds in nine games.

In a surprise move in March, 2008 the Alaska Aces traded Mike Cortez and Ken Bono for Tenorio and Larry Fonacier. The Aces were happy with the trade as they got a pure point guard in Tenorio to make life easier for Willie Miller who could now concentrate on his scoring.

Tenorio is a having a career season in the PBA this year. He scores an average 14.8 points per game, issues an average of 3.8 assists, grabs 5.1 rebounds and tallies 1.1 steals while playing an average of 32.8 minutes.

He and Miller are in the league top ten in both points and assists, the only starting backcourt pair of any PBA team in the top ten in both categories. The two have so far led the Aces to a PBA second-best record of (11 wins, 3 losses) behind only the San Miguel Beermen (13-3).

The rest of the teams include the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings (11-6), the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants (10-6), the Talk n Text Tropang Texters (10-7), the Sta. Lucia Realtors (9-6), the Burger King Whopper (5-11), the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (4-12), the Coca-Cola Tigers (3-12) and the Barako Bull Energy Boosters.

San Miguel gained the first of two automatic berths to the Semifinals. The Aces need to win just two more games to join the Beermen.

Lewis Alfred Tenorio born on July 9, 1984 has finally found the team that truly needs him. He finds the rigid training and discipline of the Aces in keeping with his boyhood and youth orientation of hard work and perseverance.