Davao's Simon, Tenorio of Alaska are Players of the Week

THRESHING out the great players from mere mortals is easy. All one needs to do
is to spot those who step up big-time, especially when the chips are down.
That is exactly what Alaska’s Lewis Alfred “LA” LA Tenorio and B-MEG Derby Ace’s
Peter June “PJ” Simon just recently did to stoke their respective team’s drive
in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup and earn for themselves the  Accel-PBA Press
Corps’ Co-Players of the Week honors for the period March 21 to 27.
It was the second such award for Tenorio in the conference, having been already
cited for the period Feb. 21- 28, while the honor was Simon‘s second for the
season, coming after his similarly exceptional performance in the Nov. 8 to 14
span of the Philippine Cup, when he posted a two-game average of 29.0 points.
 This time, Simon normed 23.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in leading injury-plagued
Derby Ace past previously unbeaten Smart-Gilas and San Miguel Beer in a pair of
overtime games that stoked their drive to the playoffs.
What makes those numbers special is the fact they came at a time when the
Llamados were sorely missing the services of reigning MVP James Yap (calf
strain), Rico Maierhofer (ACL), Don Allado (foot), Jonas Villanueva (ankle),
Rafi Reavis (hand) and Jondan Salvador (shoulder).
“PJ has been stepping up in the absence of James and he has become our
go-to-guy,” noted Derby Ace coach Jorge Gallent after Simon’s heroics enabled
the team to improve its win-loss record to 4-4.
“I hope he continues to inspire the whole team.”
As stimulating was Tenorio while leading Alaska to a come-from-behind 104-101
win, also in OT, over Meralco last Friday.
With import LD Williams ejected barely four minutes into the game, Tenorio
exploded for a new career-high 33 points in leading the gritty bunch of local
Aces who rose to the occasion.

The heady playmaker made half of his 20 shots, including four triples, and added
eight rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocked shots in 39 minutes in
a sterling all-around performance rarely seen on local shores.
“LA did everything to bring us back. It’s incredible to watch LA do that kind of
stuff,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone, taking special note of Tenorio’s two triples
highlighting an 11-0 burst in the last three minutes of regulation that brought
the Aces back.
As is his wont, Tenorio refused to hog all the credit.
“After na ma-thrown out ang import namin we as a team decided to play harder and
just continue playing. The most important thing was everyone stepped up, not
only me but everyone in the team,” he stated.
“Siguro I was lucky lang talaga that time na the ball was in my hand during the
crucial part of the game. Basta I played hard lang talaga that game and grabbed
the opportunity to step up.”
The win jacked the Aces’ record to 5-2, tantalizingly close to a top two spot
and an automatic semifinals berth, but surely safe enough to ensure passage into
the next round.PR