LA confident blue Eagles will be back

Ateneo, as far as LA Tenorio is concerned, is far from finished.

In fact, this small point guard who’s fond of hitting the big shots is confident that Ateneo still has what it takes to bounce back from the stinging loss to La Salle last Tuesday in their battle for the No. 2 spot in the Final Four.

The 82-69 loss at the Araneta Coliseum was a big blow to Ateneo’s title hopes in the 67th UAAP season as La Salle now enjoys a solid twice-to-beat advantage when the two popular teams begin their Final Four showdown on Sunday.

"Okay pa naman. May chance pa. Hindi pa tapos at nandoon pa naman kami. We’re okay. We just have to work harder," said Tenorio yesterday during a brief phone interview with The STAR.

Another loss would mean the end of the road for Ateneo. And if that happens, it will definitely be a bitter pill to swallow for the same team that swept the first round of the elimination and looked headed toward a rosy season.

But Tenorio is confident that the Blue Eagles won’t allow that to happen. He said the fact that Ateneo has done it before, beating the twice-to-beat University of the East on its way to the 2002 championship, makes everything so possible.

"Yes, we did it against UE then. Sana nga lang ganoon ulit ngayon. Sana may isa pang Jeck Chia sa team," said Tenorio, referring to Chia, the former Blue Eagle who hit the basket that sent Ateneo to the finals against La Salle two years ago.

"Sana may mag step up na iba," added Tenorio as he called on the rest of his teammates to be ready to hit the big shot if and when the need arises.

"Nakaka-frustrate nga last Tuesday," said Tenorio who tried so hard to push his teammates to work and fight harder against the Green Archers who simply coasted to victory after erecting a 17-point lead in the third quarter.

"Wala lang talaga. Mahirap na habulin ang lamang. Naunahan kasi kami. Siguro naman sa Sunday babawi kami lahat. I hope may isa pang Jeck Chia sa team namin. Ako naman I will just play my usual game," he said.

"Sa endgame kasi, alam na ng kalaban na titira ako kaya I’m sure babantayan ako. But I’m always ready to take the shot," said Tenorio who had a couple of game-winning triples this year — one against Adamson and anothe against defending champion FEU.

Tenorio said the continued absence of the injured Larry Fonacier cannot be used as an excuse.

"Actually, we’ve won a lot of games naman even without Larry so we cannot really make him as an excuse eh na we lost kasi wala siya," he said of Fonacier whose UAAP career came to an abrupt end after a knee injury halfway through the first round of the elims.

After Tuesday’s loss to the Green Archers, actually the second in three meetings so far this season, the Blue Eagles and the coaching staff stayed on inside their dugout for almost two hours trying to figure out what went wrong.

"Matagal nga ang meeting. More than two hours kami sa dugout. We talked about the problems and we just have to work harder. Pero parang wala kasi kaming tapang sa court. Parang takot sa loob ng court," he said. — Abac Cordero