COACH LA Tenorio is off to a winning start in his time with Magnolia, but he knows all too well that it’s not a reason to celebrate yet.

After all, over the past few seasons, there were a lot of times when the franchise struggled to sustain its hot start, with some of the rabid PBA fans on social media even branding the team ‘Introvoys’ for starting off so well, only to falter in the end.

Tenorio knows all about it – having competed against the same team through the years – and it’s something that he and his team plan on changing this conference.

READ: Magnolia continues to roll after surviving late Phoenix fightback

“Of course I want to be in this position rather than be in a different position,” Tenorio said as Magnolia upped its standings to 4-1 following an 83-80 win over Phoenix on Friday.

“I think we talked about it already na maraming na-experience itong team ng Magnolia ngayon na they were always on top, yun ang experience ng team na’to but hopefully ibang storya naman sa conference na’to,” he said. “Yes we’re on top so far but hopefully ibang storya naman moving forward.”

But the rookie head coach won’t deny his players the credit for buying into the system that he wants to enforce in this team.

Through five games, Magnolia is only giving up 89.2 points per game – with Titan Ultra the only team scoring over 100 them, a game that the Hotshots won 127-119.

Against Phoenix, it was once against their defense which won them the game after denying the Fuel Masters an outside shot to either tie the game with a three or win the game with a four.

“Honestly so far so good. We’ve been practicing really well. Players are really buying into the system. They really want to, gusto talaga nila dumepensa e,” Tenorio said.

“Araw-araw feeling ko naiirita na sakin tong mga to e, yun ang parati kong sinasabi. Everyday, siguro 100 times kong sinasabi ko sa kanila na e have to defend, we have to defend, we have to defend.”

While he’s giving credit to where credit is due ‘Tinyente’ knows he can’t be satisfied, not with the Hotshots just entering the halfway point of the conference – with their next two games against powerhouse squads in San Miguel and TNT.

“So far I like what I’m seeing. But again, we’re just going to the half. Wala pa nga tayo sa halftime ng liga e,” he said.

“I cannot be satisfied and we cannot be satisfied with anything that we’re doing, because again our goal is to get better everyday. Yun ang parati kong sinasabi sa kanila, whether in practice or in games.”

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