It will be a baptism of fire for newly installed Gilas Pilipinas Youth head coach LA Tenorio as he will lead his squad in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers from May 24 to 30 at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga.

Tenorio, a two-decade veteran in the PBA, first dabbled with coaching as an assistant for the Letran Knights in the NCAA. He is also an assistant to Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone.

His list of accomplishments as a Gilas player is undeniable with medal-winning stints in the Jones Cup, FIBA Asia Championship, FIBA Asia Cup, and Southeast Asian Games. He was also part of the FIBA Basketball World Cup team that saw action in 2014.

To aid his preparation, Tenorio sought help from Gilas teammate Jimmy Alapag, who currently is an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA.

“As soon as I was appointed as Gilas Pilipinas Youth head coach, Jimmy was one of the first I talked to because I wanted to invite him to come home and work with us during the preparations,” said Tenorio. “Although that did not happen, I’m happy I got the opportunity to go to Sacramento. Luckily, I was able to attend the Kings’ last regular season game and their match in the Play In Tournament.”

According to Tenorio, he wanted to soak up as much as he could and learn what it takes to run a team in the NBA.

“I wanted to see what they did and observe. After that, Jimmy and I communicate often. He gave me many pointers on what I can do, some we have already employed, specifically the drills,” he added.

“It was a learning experience for me. It was good to see how it is done in the NBA level. It’s important for me, especially at the start of my coaching stint with Gilas Youth.”

Tenorio has also faced challenges, including player availability as many of those in the pool still have school. However, according to him, the toughest part of the job is trimming down their roster.

“It’s the toughest part of the job. We started with 100 then cut it down to 60 then to 30 to 20 and now 16. It was difficult. It was the biggest challenge in my current role. It’s difficult to talk to the players. How some of them need to improve more or maybe we’re looking for something specific for the team,” Tenorio shared. 

“The good thing about it, I think, is that they appreciated that we gave them a chance. I just wanted the players and their parents as well to stay confident and stay the course. Maybe now is not the time but the fact that they got invited means they are capable.”

To help him focus on coaching, Tenorio’s PBA team, Barangay Ginebra, has placed him on their inactive list. This will allow Tenorio to focus his entire efforts into the SEABA Qualifiers.

“We still have a lot of work to do but our team is excited to play in our homecourt,” Tenorio said. “I hope the fans show their support to the kids and watch live because they really deserve it.”