NOT even a 35-point victory against Malaysia can stop LA Tenorio from showing his rare fiery side to his Gilas Pilipinas Youth team ahead of the Fiba U16 Asia Cup SEABA qualifiers title game against Indonesia on Friday night.
Despite the teenage Filipino dribblers being sharper on both ends compared to their nine-point win over Indonesia, their performance as a unit still left much to be desired in the eyes of the national coach.
“I always tell them na wala akong pakialam sa score,” Tenorio said. “The score will take care of itself. But ang importante sa akin is: are we doing the right things?”
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“Are we doing the right defensive schemes na gusto namin gawin? The right defensive system, the right offensive system? Doing the little things, are we doing that? Because as early as now, habang mga bata sila, they have to learn,” he added.
It seemed Gilas Youth continued to veer away from their game plan at times as, despite entering the halftime break enjoying a 55-29 lead against Malaysia, they still got an earful from Tenorio in the dugout.
“Better second half, but first half, I got hard on them during halftime. First time to really magalit sa kanila,” Tenorio admitted.
“Once in a while, they have to realize how important this opportunity is. Hindi namin pwede baliwalain itong opportunity.”
Despite completing a five-game sweep of the elimination round to set up the finale against second-running Indonesia, Tenorio felt his youth squad fell stagnant in their last two games after a one-day break on Tuesday.
And that won’t cut it against Indonesia in their 7 p.m. tussle – or against stronger foes in the continental level as they have already secured berths to the U16 Asia Cup main tournament in August in Mongolia.
“We're vulnerable. Any team can beat us if we don't play the right way,” Tenorio admitted.
“We have to be in the level na we're improving all the time. Every day, every game. Because again, moving forward, if we go all the way, honestly, we're not gonna play a team like this in Asia,” he added.
“So, we're really preparing not only for this tournament, but we're preparing moving forward,” he continued.
Gilas tries to show its defensive discipline against Indonesian star Benjamin Piet Hemusi, who proved to be unsolvable with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting in their elimination-round affair.
“Well, we have a plan,” Tenorio said of Hemusi. “Actually, may plano naman kami last game. We just didn't do it. Kasi feeling ng mga players namin, kayang-kaya. So now, we just have to do it harder and better.”
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