Alaska Aces Game 8: Back in the saddle

Back in the saddle

Alaska 96 vs. Powerade 67

by rick olivares with pics by tunying p.

November 10, 2010

Araneta Coliseum

Tim Cone entered the Press Room, stopped right in from of the podium, and looked up at the lights. “I didn’t think I’d be back in this place,” said Cone referring to traditional post-game interview by the winning coach. Just a few moments earlier, his Alaska Aces’ bombed the Powerade Tigers 96-67 into submission that snapped a four-game slide.

Cone fumed about the losing streak, the Aces’ longest since being swept by Purefoods in last year’s Philippine Cup Finals. His team had an alarming tendency to rack up huge leads only to cough them up in the endgame. “I want to get someone to DEVOTE himself to pulling this team together,” he furiously scribbled on the whiteboard as the players quietly dressed before the match. Whether it was a message for his team captain – Tony dela Cruz – or his point guard – LA Tenorio – or for everyone in general, it was not lost on the team. Forward-center Ervin Sotto had been temporarily placed on the reserve list while Topex Robinson was activated. The coaching staff hoped that maybe another floor general could jolt the team. 

Alaska burst out of the gates and never stepped off the gas pedal in throttling the Tigers. Playing great defense and sharing that ball, they posted double digit leads at the end of every quarter – 30-14, 56-29, 79-43, and 96-67.

They put dela Cruz on the shifty dynamo named Gary David and the taller and long armed defender harassed the league’s scoring leader into 4-13 shooting from the field and three turnovers.

Taking shots mostly from the inside, Alaska made 52.2% of their shots while handing off nine assists to set the tone right in the first quarter. Even in the “gulang” department, the Aces held serve.

After Ronjay Enrile knocked down Tenorio who was trying to set a pick for Joe DeVance, he raised his leg to prevent the former from trying to stop DeVance while everyone on the Tigers’ bench pointed and hollered to the referees to no avail.

But the good start wasn’t the concern of the Aces’ braintrust. At the half, the team met inside the adjacent locker room that was earlier used by the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados.

“I wish I could take something positive out of all of this but I’m thinking of the opposite,” said Cone who couldn’t erase the thoughts of those endgame meltdowns when his squad relaxed. While stopping David was one of the key strategies the other was to make sure than Powerade’s other long-range sniper Ren Ren Ritualo did not get open looks. The former La Salle Green Archer had knocked down three of five shots thus far and if he got into a good rhythm he could spark a comeback. “Gary will try to make impossible shots when he is frustrated but Ren Ren… let’s make sure we have better coverage on him.

“They could press us so we gotta be ready for that,” added assistant Joel Banal.

“They have not found a way to stop Sonny,” noted Dickie Bachmann, the team’s big man coach. “But he only has six points. We have to find a way to get him to be more active.”

The full court pressure of Powerade never materialized. They tried some zone but the ball movement was fantastic as the Aces constantly found the open man. Alaska rifled in eight triples (in 15 attempts) to Powerade’s two. And Thoss scored a deuce more while adding five boards (three on the offensive end) and another assist.

By the end of the third, it was obvious that Alaska was not going to let the game go. Cone rested his starters and emptied his bench.

Every time the Aces break a team meeting or huddle, it is back up guard Robinson who says grace. The player they call “Pex” even when he was in the reserve list would eagerly pay attention to every thing that the coaches would tell them. “I just want to play,” he said.

The Aces have three highlight reel players in Cyrus Baguio, Bonbon Custodio, and Tenorio. Even as they go about their work, they seldom break out of their game faces. Robinson on the other hand, wears his emotion on his sleeves. Checking into the fourth quarter, he leaped up high to corral a rebound, one of four he would snatch, to ignite the break. He didn’t score a point but he gamely tried to get his teammates into the points column.

After the game as the smiles and laughter once more pervaded inside the team dugout, Robinson was keeping his teammates in stitches. Dressed up and ready to go, he made one note as he passed by the Maplewood court. “Now, that’s my comfort zone.”

Alaska 96 – Baguio 17, DeVance 16, Tenorio 15, Custodio 11, Eman 8, Thoss 8, Borboran 7, dela Cruz 7, Hugnatan 5, Espiritu 2, Robinson 0

Powerade 67 – Reyes Rob 12, Ritualo 12, Calimag 10, David 9, Reyes Jai 7, Lanete 6, Antonio 4, Enrile 0, Macapagal 0, Laure 0, Espino 0, Gonzales 0