INTACT ACES LOOK FOR QUICK KILL

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ALASKA managed to end the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations on a very bright note despite an injury-plagued lineup.

The Aces are now all healthy and that gives coach Luigi Trillo reason to be optimistic his crew can make short work of Air21 in their quarterfinals matchup Saturday at the MOA Arena.

Alaska goes into the match with a twice-to-beat advantage, a privilege it earned after winning its last four games in the elims to emerge with a league-best 11-3 record.

What makes the Aces’ feat, their best in the post-Tim Cone era, noteworthy is the fact it was fashioned with the likes of JV Casio, Sonny Thoss and Cyrus Baguio hobbled by an assortment of injuries.

With everybody fully recovered, no little thanks to a week’s rest, Trillo hopes his team can get back at the same Air21 crew that dealt him one of its losses in the elims.

“All our players are ready to go,” related Trillo.

Air21 also had its share of injuries, the most notable of which was the calf muscle strain suffered by ace playmaker Mike Cortez.
Cortez has also recovered and that, plus the Express’ upbeat attitude, gives coach Franz Pumaren confidence hs team can do a Powerade and at least extend the series.

The Tigers also entered last year’s Philippine Cup quarterfinals as the lowest seed but upended top-ranked B-Meg and went on to finish second.

“Definitely everybody is excited to be playing in the playoffs,” said Pumaren.

“We are playing the best team in this conference. We just have to enjoy the opportunity of being in the quarterfinals and hopefully Air21 can play their best basketball this conference. (We need) collective effort on our part for us to compete with Alaska.”

Air21 defeated Alaska via a 74-68 count the only time they met in the conference last March 15, when Thoss was saddled by foul trouble early in trying to defend Express import Michael Dunigan and the Aces turned the ball over too many times for Trillo’s liking.

“We have to do a much better job than what we did last time,” said Trillo. “We had 24 turnovers in our only game against them this conference and some of our guys tried to do too much.”

Things could change this time around with Alaska’s intact lineup.

“Nice to have JV back to help out RJ (Jazul) and Raffy (Reyes) organize and help defend Cortez,” said Trillo.
Two other concerns nag at Trillo.

Nino Canaleta averaged 31.5 points in Air21’s last two games, the highest by a local since he himself normed 33.0 in the season-opening Philippine Cup, and Dunigan is rock-steady with averages of 24.6 points and 15.7 rebounds in 14 games.

“Canaleta has averaged around 30 points and he is playing like an import. Dunigan is someone we need to worry about,” said Trillo.
“We need to raise our level of play on both sides. Both teams execute very well.” (NC)

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