Magnolia Beverage Master Faces Alaska Aces For Win # 1

It's interesting to watch the matchup between the basketball players who were involved in the pre-season trades.

Mike Cortez and Ken Bono
vs.
L.A. Tenorio and Larry Fonacier

It will be an exciting ballgame!


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Hot Red Bull battles TNT; Magnolia Beverage Masters duel Alaska Aces

Source:
By: June Navarro
INQUIRER.NET
April 11, 2008

Red Bull, the surprise of the young Smart PBA Fiesta Cup, shoots for a third straight win and a share of the lead against Talk 'N Text on Friday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The Barako take on the Phone Pals at 4:50 p.m. with the spotlight on Red Bull's seven-foot import Adam Parada following two explosive performances against Ginebra and Air21.

Magnolia Beverage Masters tries to break into the winner's circle against the Alaska Aces in the mainer at 7:20 p.m.

The Magnolia Beverage Masters seek to bounce back after absorbing bitter setbacks from Purefoods TJ Giants and Sta. Lucia Realty even as the Alaska Aces seek a second victory in three gammes.

Parada, a seven-footer from Mexico, debuted with a 28-point, 21-rebound, 5-block performance in the Bulls' win over Ginebra, and then followed it up with another huge gamme of 28 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks against Air21.

On Friday, he will take on Aaron McGhee, the first import to arrive here who will try to steer the Phone Pals to back-to-back wins after a lopsided, 36-point (131-95) win over bottom-dweller Welcoat Friday last week.

Meantime, Barangay Ginebra may play all-Filipino when it faces Philippine Cup champion Sta. Lucia on Saturday in an out-of-town gamme in Tacloban City.

The Gin Kings are in the midst of replacing their import Rahshon Turner, who suffered a hamstring injury in their 89-102 loss to the Alaska Aces last Sunday.

The smallest reinforcement in the tournament also was not a factor in Ginebra's first two gammes, only scoring a combined 24 points.

At 0-2 (win-loss), Ginebra is in its worst start since the 2002 Governors' Cup.

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Tenorio, Fonacier Traded to Alaska for Mike Cortez, Ken Bono

The much-awaited trade of Larry Fonacier has now materialized. But hold your breath, he's not going to Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants as some of you are expecting. Google searches for "Fonacier to be traded to Purefoods" these past few days landing on this site expected him to be traded to Purefoods. Sorry folks, he's not meant to be in that team.

My comments on the trade:
1. Alaska gets younger with the acquisition of LA and Fonacier.
2. MBM gets an experienced pointguard in Cortez. I wonder why they get Bono.


I suspect he will be traded again to another team in exchange for a defensive player. MBM doesn't need another scorer in Bono.

This seems to be just the first salvo for more trades that will happen in the next few days. As it turns out, the all-star lineup of Magnolia Beverage Masters does not work out well in the defense department placing near the bottom of the 10 PBA teams in the All FIlipino Cup.

Please do check out this site once in a while as more trades seems to be coming in the next few days. Be the first one to scoop for these hot news!

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Source: alaskaaces.com.ph

The Alaska Aces received a pair of former Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles from the Magnolia Beverage Masters in point guard Lewis Alfred (LA) Tenorio and Larry Alexander Fonacier in exchange for Mike Cortez and rookie big man Ken Bono.

The 5-foot-8 Tenorio, 22, played five seasons with Ateneo from where he graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts in 2006 and joined the Philippine Basketball Association in the same year as the 4th pick in the Draftt.

The 6-foot-1 Fonacier, 24, was drafted 14th overall by the Red Bull Barakos in the 2005 PBA Draftt but bucked the odds to win the Rookie of the Year award.

The two were members of the Ateneo team which won the championship of the 2002 Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines basketball tournament.

Both Alaska and Magnolia Beverage Masters will benefit from the trade according to Alaska General Manager Joaqui Trillo.

We get a pure point guard in LA (Tenorio), said Trillo. We expect him to excel especially in the triangle offense of coach Tim Cone. Larry (Fonacier) gives us help at the two spot where he will back up Jeff (Cariaso). The two players will definitely help Alaska a lot.

Trillo said the Beverage Masters also got good players in the former Alaska Aces in return.

Of course Mike (Cortez) is also a good player who has played well for Alaska all these years, said Trillo. And Ken (Bono) has the potential to become a star in the PBA. So Magnolia Beverage Masters also gained a lot from this trade. We wish Mike and Ken all the best with their new team.

Tenorio and Fonacier are reunited with their former Ateneo coach Joel Banal who handled the reins of the star-studded 2002 UAAP champion team.

Eight members of the 2002 Ateneo champion team - Enrico Villanueva (Magnolia Beverage Masters), Rich Alvarez (Red Bull), Wesley Gonzales (Magnolia Beverage Masters), Paolo Bugia (Red Bull), JC Intal (Air21), Doug Kramer (Air21), Tenorio and Fonacier - eventually landed in the PBA.

Tenorio attended high school at San Beda College where he was coached by the venerable Ato Badolato.

Tenorio joined Ateneo in 2001 and made an immediate impact as a rookie leading his team to the finals where they lost to bitter rival De La Salle University. In 2002 the Blue Eagles won the UAAP title. They advanced to the UAAP championship for the third straight year in 2003 but lost to the Far Eastern University Tamaraws.

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