Larry Alexander Nacua Fonacier (born May 13, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the
NLEX Road Warriors of the
Philippine Basketball Association
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...
(PBA). He was drafted fourteenth overall by the
Red Bull Barako
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
in the
2005 PBA draft
The 2005 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft was an event at which teams drafted players from the amateur ranks. It was the first PBA Draft to feature only two rounds of drafting and the first draft held in August due to the league ...
.
College and amateur career
Larry first played for the
Ateneo de Manila High School
, mottoeng = Light in the Lord
, type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution
, established = December 10, 1859
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits)
, academic_af ...
Blue Eaglets in the
University Athletic Association of the Philippines
The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univers ...
Juniors Basketball division, leading them to numerous winning seasons and championships along with
Enrico Villanueva
Jose Enrico Pascual Villanueva (born June 23, 1980) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He last played for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Amateur career
Villanueva first played for the A ...
,
Wesley Gonzales
Wesley Olan Gonzales (born July 27, 1980 in Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. Gonzales last played for the Barako Bull Energy Cola before retiring after a stellar college career and a 10-year stint in the P ...
, BJ Manalo, and Bajjie del Rosario. He moved to the college ranks in 2000.
In his rookie year, under coach
Joe Lipa
Jose "Joe" Lipa, Jr. is a Filipino basketball coach and executive who currently coaching the Terrafirma Dyip's 3x3 team in the PBA 3x3.
Lipa formerly coached his alma mater, the University of the Philippines, in the University Athletic Asso ...
, he played consistent minutes coming off the bench. The
Blue Eagles
The Blue Eagles were the helicopter aerobatic team of the British Army Air Corps. It was one of only eight professional helicopter teams in the world, along with the Royal Navy Black Cats, Sarang of the Indian Air Force, the Scorpion aeroba ...
managed to secure a twice to beat advantage against the
Far Eastern University Tamaraws. Despite having the twice to beat advantage, they were defeated in both games. The Eagles would have faced the
De La Salle Green Archers in a best of three series Finals.
The following year, in 2001, Larry started in all of the games and played a significant role in the team. The team finished with 10 wins and 4 losses. They, again, secured a twice to beat advantage against the
Far Eastern University Tamaraws. They defeated
Far Eastern University Tamaraws 67–63 then faced the
De La Salle Green Archers in the best-of-3 finals. The Eagles lost in Game 3 despite a 30-point game from
LA Tenorio
Lewis Alfred Vasquez Tenorio (born July 9, 1984) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is also an assistant coach for the Letran Knights of the Philip ...
. The score was 93–88.
During the summer, the
Ateneo-Hapee team joined the commercial and amateur
Philippine Basketball League
The Philippine Basketball League (PBL) was a commercial semi-professional basketball league in the Philippines. The league was composed of several commercial teams with several collegiate and provincial stars.
History
The PBL was formed on Ma ...
and won the championship under coach
Joel Banal
Joel Banal (born February 6, 1958) is a retired Filipino professional basketball player, and former head coach in the Philippine Basketball Association. He is the former commissioner of the now-defunct Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League (P ...
. At the start of the 65th season of the
UAAP, with a championship caliber coach in Banal, the
Ateneo de Manila
, mottoeng = Light in the Lord
, type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution
, established = December 10, 1859
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits)
, academic_affi ...
community had very high hopes of finally ending the 14-year drought. The Eagles ended with 4 wins and 3 losses in the first round of the tournament, but lost their next two games, giving them a record of 4 wins and 5 losses. Most of the
Ateneo community had lost hope. The Eagles, however, pulled off 5 straight wins, to end the elimination round with 9 wins and 5 losses. Furthermore, they spoiled the
De La Salle Green Archers chances of sweeping the 14 game eliminations, which would have given them an outright berth in the championship round. Larry scored 15 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in that 76–63 win over the Green Archers. The Eagles would then face the
UE Red Warriors
UE Red Warriors refer to the collegiate men's varsity teams of the University of the East. The women's collegiate varsity teams are called the UE Lady Warriors. The Athletic director of the University of the East is Rodrigo M. Roque.
Backgroun ...
. The team won both games and faced the
De La Salle Green Archers in the finals in a best of 3 series. In game 1, Larry scored 11 points including 3 three points, with 6 assists and 2 crucial blocks against
Mark Cardona
Mark Reynan Mikesell Cardona (born November 13, 1981) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Boracay Islanders of the Pilipinas Super League. From a successful college career with the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, ...
in the game's dying seconds. In game 2, Larry scored his career high of 25 points but lost the game by 8 points. In game 3, Larry scored only 6 points because of food poisoning, but the team finally ended the 14 title year drought winning the
UAAP Men's Basketball Championship with the score of 77–70. Larry was named co-Finals MVP, along with
Wesley Gonzales
Wesley Olan Gonzales (born July 27, 1980 in Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. Gonzales last played for the Barako Bull Energy Cola before retiring after a stellar college career and a 10-year stint in the P ...
, averaging 11.7 points per game.
In 2003, the Blue Eagles made it to the Finals but lost to the
FEU Tamaraws
The FEU Tamaraws are the varsity teams of Far Eastern University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The collegiate women's varsity teams are called the ''Lady Tamaraws'' while the high school varsity teams are call ...
.
In 2004, Larry's last year, he only played 4 games in that season. He suffered an
ACL injury on his left knee while driving to the basket in the fourth game against UP that ended his UAAP career.
Professional career
Fonacier won the
PBA Rookie of the Year award during the
2005–06 season, his first year in the PBA with the
Red Bull Barako
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
. Nicknamed the "Babyface Assassin", He played 55 games with the Barakos during the
2006–07 season, with 13 starts. During that time, he was named as an All-Star, and played for the North All-Stars team in the
2007 PBA All-Star Weekend
The 2007 PBA All-Star Weekend was the annual all-star weekend of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)'s 2006–07 PBA season. The events were held at the Pacoy Ortega Gym, San Fernando City, La Union and at the University of Baguio Gym, Ba ...
. After being traded to the
San Miguel Beermen, he was then dealt to the
Alaska Aces with his teammate
LA Tenorio
Lewis Alfred Vasquez Tenorio (born July 9, 1984) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is also an assistant coach for the Letran Knights of the Philip ...
in exchange for
Ken Bono
Karl Kenneth Odani Bono (born June 19, 1984) is a Filipino basketball player who last played for the TNT KaTropa of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played collegiate basketball for the Adamson Soaring Falcons in the University At ...
and
Mike Cortez
Mike Salonga Cortez (born November 10, 1980) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He last played for the Blackwater Elite of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Cortez gained prominence in the amateur ranks for ...
. During the
2010 PBA Draft
The 2010 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft was an event held at Market! Market! in Taguig on August 29, 2010 that allowed PBA teams to draft players from the amateur ranks. Players who applied for the draft went through a rook ...
, he was traded by the Aces to the
Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters
The TNT (cellular service), TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Associat ...
in exchange for the draft rights of
Elmer Espiritu
Elmer Torres Espiritu (born November 23, 1985) is a Filipino former professional basketball player who last played for Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played five seasons for the University of the ...
. The
Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters
The TNT (cellular service), TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Associat ...
beat the
Powerade Tigers
The Powerade Tigers were a professional basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association from 2002 to 2012. The franchise was owned by Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI) when the company acquired Cosmos Bottling Co ...
in the 2011–2012 Philippine Cup and he was
chosen as finals MVP.
PBA career statistics
''As of the end of 2019 season''
Season-by-season averages
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
Red Bull
, 65 , , 21.5 , , .421 , , .380 , , .809 , , 3.6 , , 2.2 , , .3 , , .1 , , 8.0
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
Red Bull
, 55 , , 21.0 , , .438 , , .396 , , .761 , , 3.4 , , 2.0 , , .3 , , .1 , , 9.9
, -
, align=left rowspan=2,
, align=left ,
Magnolia
''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...
, rowspan=2, 29 , , rowspan=2, 16.6 , , rowspan=2, .376 , , rowspan=2, .370 , , rowspan=2, .731 , , rowspan=2, 2.5 , , rowspan=2, 1.4 , , rowspan=2, .2 , , rowspan=2, .0 , , rowspan=2, 5.6
, -
, align=left ,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
, 47 , , 13.1 , , .383 , , .313 , , .774 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .1 , , 4.8
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
, 54 , , 15.2 , , .330 , , .336 , , .809 , , 1.8 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , .0 , , 4.8
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
Talk 'N Text
, 65 , , 25.6 , , .378 , , .358 , , .796 , , 3.8 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , .2 , , 9.3
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
Talk 'N Text
, 62 , , 29.9 , , .408 , , .398 , , .801 , , 4.2 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , .1 , , 10.5
, -
, align="left" ,
, align=left ,
Talk 'N Text
, 54 , , 30.0 , , .382 , , .319 , , .789 , , 4.3 , , 2.6 , , .7 , , .2 , , 10.4
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
Talk 'N Text
, 49 , , 27.0 , , .375 , , .321 , , .875 , , 3.5 , , 1.7 , , .5 , , .1 , , 8.4
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
Talk 'N Text
, 51 , , 31.5 , , .397 , , .354 , , .836 , , 4.2 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .3 , , 8.1
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
, 39 , , 26.4 , , .419 , , .375 , , .797 , , 3.1 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .1 , , 8.9
, -
, align=left rowspan=2,
, align=left ,
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
, rowspan=2, 39 , , rowspan=2, 27.9 , , rowspan=2, .379 , , rowspan=2, .335 , , rowspan=2, .809 , , rowspan=2, 3.0 , , rowspan=2, 2.1 , , rowspan=2, .6 , , rowspan=2, .2 , , rowspan=2, 9.0
, -
, align=left ,
NLEX
The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects M ...
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
NLEX
The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects M ...
, 38 , , 27.2 , , .444 , , .365 , , .818 , , 4.1 , , 2.8 , , .7 , , .3 , , 10.8
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left ,
NLEX
The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects M ...
, 23 , , 16.4 , , .294 , , .229 , , .882 , , 2.2 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .1 , , 4.0
, -class=sortbottom
, align=center colspan=2 , Career
, 670 , , 24.0 , , .395 , , .353 , , .803 , , 3.3 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 8.3
National team statistics
, -
, align=left ,
2012 William Jones Cup
The 2012 William Jones Cup was the 34th tournament of the William Jones Cup that took place at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium in Taipei, Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) from August 18 to 26, 2012.
As in previous tourn ...
, align=left ,
Smart Gilas
The Philippines men's national basketball team ( fil, Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilip ...
, 8 , , 16.75 , , .273 , , .304 , , .80 , , 2.25 , , 1.25 , , .375 , , 0 , , 6.38
Off the court
He is currently an analyst for the
TV5 broadcast of UAAP basketball.
References
External links
Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonacier, Larry
1982 births
Living people
Alaska Aces (PBA) players
Barako Bull Energy Boosters players
NLEX Road Warriors players
Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars
Philippines men's national basketball team players
Filipino men's basketball players
San Miguel Beermen players
Shooting guards
Small forwards
Basketball players from Quezon City
TNT Tropang Giga players
Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball players
Barako Bull Energy Boosters draft picks
Filipino men's 3x3 basketball players
PBA 3x3 players