THOUGHTS | LA TENORIO'S TRANSITION FROM POINT GOD TO COACH

When a new coach comes in, the first order of business is a team overhaul. After all, if a player doesn’t fit the system, the coach has to trade that player while he is still an asset.

Otherwise, the coach needs to make sure he has enough tools for the team to function.

Tim Cone is the best example of this. When Cone moved to B-Meg from Alaska and later made his eventual move to Barangay Ginebra, he made roster moves to suit his needs.

For Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand, it was either to embrace their new roles or finish their careers with a different team.

For Kerby Raymundo and Roger Yap, two players from Ryan Gregorio’s championship core in Purefoods, it was Cone’s way or the highway, with both eventually leaving the team and retiring unceremoniously.

Cone was never known for starting rookies, but when he moved to the SMC teams, he gave Mark Barroca and Scottie Thompson instant prominent roles. He also brought in his former reliables in Joe Devance and LA Tenorio.

Speaking of LA Tenorio, “The Gin-eral” is now the coach of the Magnolia Hotshots, the second team Cone led to a grand slam. However, there is also such a thing as a star playmaker being unable to translate his on-court success to the bench. Except for Robert Jaworski and, I guess, Norman Black, who is an import, the only other top PBA players to win a championship as head coach are one-time MVP Ato Agustin and Cone’s starting shooting guard during his first grand slam in 1996, Jojo Lastimosa.

Although he won a PBL title as coach for Crispa in 1991, Bogs Adornado never won a PBA title as a coach. The same goes for Allan Caidic. Not even four-time MVP Ramon Fernandez could accomplish the feat during his brief stint as Purefoods coach. And while Philip Cezar led the San Juan Knights to an MBA title in 2000 and Ronnie Magsanoc guided the San Beda Red Lions to an NCAA title in 2012, that is still only six out of the league’s 50 Greatest Players, if you include Adornado's PBL win.

I am only including head coaches here and not former superstars who became assistant coaches, such as Johnny Abarrientos and Jeffrey Cariaso. If the league expands its Greatest Players list to 60, I think LA Tenorio would have a chance to make the shortlist. That said, a championship for now remains a dream for him, two conferences into his coaching career.

For Tenorio, his biggest problem is that he was given all the assets, yet the team has not been effective. He inherited a core built for Chito Victolero’s system, and unfortunately, it produced only one title. Even Victolero had problems managing a core that was a combination of Tim Cone’s old group and the additions given to his successor, Jason Webb.

When Tenorio came in, he may have lucked out by acquiring Javi Gomez de Liano, Yukien Andrada, and Chris Koon, but are they really what he wanted? Tenorio has been leaning heavily on third-year standout Zavier Lucero and second-year combo guard Jerom Lastimosa. But at the same time, he is phasing out Mark Barroca, Ian Sangalang, and Paul Lee.

Over the last two seasons, Lee's production has been significantly hampered by injuries. With the rise of Lucero and Lastimosa, Barroca and Sangalang have also been seeing limited minutes.

It feels like none of his pieces are fully working, and one could argue he might wish a defensive presence like Calvin Abueva were still on the roster.

The other problem for Tenorio is that he entered the team as an outsider. When Magnolia was considering replacing Victolero, the first name in many people’s minds was Johnny Abarrientos, who stayed on as assistant coach even after Tim Cone left. Abarrientos was the assistant coach during San Mig Coffee’s championship run, and instead of promoting him to head coach, the situation became a virtual swap, with him moving to Ginebra so Tenorio could take over Magnolia.

Worse, it’s not like Tenorio can do much to change his roster. Alfrancis Chua placed him in that position, which is basically the same way Jason Webb got the head coaching spot after Cone’s departure. Many assumed it would be Richard del Rosario, who was instead packaged with Cone when he moved to Ginebra.

And it’s not like this is just a PBA problem. Even in the NBA, as former Dallas coach Jason Kidd has recently found himself in a similar situation.

MAGNOLIA HOTSHOTS

FIRST THREE GAMES | 2026 PBA COMMISSIONER'S CUP

MAGNOLIA HOTSHOTS	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
NUNI OMOT - IMP	3	32.33	7.33	6.00	0.33	0.00
ZAVIER LUCERO	3	16.67	8.00	2.00	0.33	1.67
JEROM LASTIMOSA	3	15.33	5.33	4.33	2.00	0.00
ROME DELA ROSA	3	8.67	0.67	0.67	0.00	0.00
IAN SANGALANG	3	6.67	2.33	1.00	1.00	0.00
JAMES LAPUT	2	5.00	4.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
JAVI GOMEZ DE LIANO	3	4.67	2.67	2.67	0.67	0.67
MARK BARROCA	3	3.33	1.67	1.00	0.33	0.00
YUKIEN ANDRADA	3	3.00	1.67	0.67	1.00	0.00
PAUL LEE	3	2.67	0.67	0.67	0.00	0.00
PETER ALFARO	1	2.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
CHRIS KOON	2	1.00	1.00	1.00	0.50	0.00
RUSSEL ESCOTO	3	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.33

Maybe it’s still too early to tell if Tenorio will end up as a transition coach, similar to what happened to Olsen Racela and Jeffrey Cariaso when they briefly held SMC head coaching positions.

Early in this conference, we even saw Tenorio wince in disbelief when Jerom ignored a designed play because he spotted an opportunity. While he did disregard his coach’s orders, it’s not like Tenorio couldn’t understand what he did. LA himself made similar decisions in the past and got away with them because he was a bona fide superstar.

You can’t really say the same for Leo Austria, Boyet Fernandez, and Siot Tanquingcen, who were either benchwarmers or pass-first guards off the bench during their playing days.

Aside from Abueva, one player he could have used in his lineup is Jio Jalalon. I’ve always thought the former Arellano Chief has a similar playstyle to Tenorio and is also a better defender than Lee. Maybe he can still trade Lee for a player like Jeron Teng, or for someone who can play the small forward position with more scoring punch. One player he could consider is Enoch Valdez, who is currently languishing in NLEX. I would also look for a way to trade for Evan Nelle, although Phoenix would probably prefer to keep him at the moment. And if he can tap into their farm teams, perhaps he could look at either Mark Nonoy or Louie Sangalang.

Again, I am not saying Tenorio is bound to have a horrible coaching career in the PBA. But unless he is given free rein over the players who will run his system, he may remain stuck in this predicament until he eventually decides to step away.