THE SILENT OPERATOR TAKES CENTERSTAGE
DOING the little things can often net anybody some big results.
Like the case of Sonny Thoss, whose workman-like ethics on defense has helped Alaska rediscover its winning ways and thus earned for himself the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week honors for the period March 4 to 10.
In the critical match against Petron Blaze last Friday, Thoss used his 6-7, 210-lb frame to harass, intimidate and act out other roles for a critical 83-73 win that restored the Aces back on top of the leaderboard.
Thoss did some scoring, too, winding up with 14 points on 7-for-9 field shooting, to go with his four assists and two rebounds.
Alaska coach Luigi Trillo could not be happier for Thoss, only the second Ace to be so cited by the scribes after Cyrus Baguio.
“Sonny is a guy who will sacrifice his stats for the greater good of our team. He has to get the import at times and box him out, that is why his rebounds are down this conference. He is the consummate teammate,” said Trillo.
“Against Petron we felt we could dump it into him and you saw how he got his teammates involved to win the game with the passes to Dondon (Hontiveros) and JV (Casio),” added Trillo, referring to Thoss’ feeds that resulted into baskets that pulled them away from a 70-69 count.
The win, its sixth in seven outings, not only put Alaska back on track following a 68-75 loss to defending champion San Mig Coffee but also stoked its drive to a top two slot and its accompanying twice-to-beat advantage in the ensuing quarterfinal round.
Trillo is hinging most of his hopes on import Robert Dozier, as well as locals Baguio, Casio, and, of course, the center the coach wants any youth to emulate.
“He makes his game do the talking,” said Trillo. “I always hope my son can grow up and act like Sonny. A very humble man. He is a big reason why we are playing with such great spirit and teamwork.
“Walang kayabang-yabang. He is not only a good player and a good teammate, he is a good person.” (NC)
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