Tenorio mulls keeping dual role

LA Tenorio is open to maintaining a dual role for Magnolia.

The Hotshots head coach was activated in the team’s last two games in the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup following the injuries sustained by guards Paul Lee and Jerom Lastimosa.

Although a short stint in the season-opening conference, the 41-year-old player is not closing his doors to having the same setup as Magnolia looks forward to a better showing in the next tournament.

“We’ll see. I had to be a playing coach because we weren’t sure if Jerom would be able to return,” Tenorio said.

The eight-time PBA champion was activated to active duty after Lastimosa and Lee went down with injuries in the Hotshots’ match against Rain or Shine in Bahrain.

He averaged 3.5 points, 3.0 assists and 1.5 rebounds in his only appearances in the all-Filipino conferences — both losses to TNT including a 109-118 defeat in the quarterfinals.

Tenorio, who joined the elite group of playing-coaches in Ramon Fernandez, Norman Black, the late Bobby Parks, and cage great Robert Jaworski Sr., will take advantage of the break to prepare early for the next conference.

“I want to join practices for them to see (the system). Of course, we have a young core so they want to do things on their own right away,” he said.

“It’s a total overhaul of the system they were used to. So the system, their habits weren’t there yet. So, it’s been a struggle for them. Sometimes, they don’t know what to do,” Tenorio added.

“We’ll address and iron out those things during the break.”