ON AND OFF ACES, TEXTERS HOPING TO BOUNCE BACK
ALASKA coach Luigi Trillo is far from being alarmed, but the way his team opened up the PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup in an up-and-down fashion continually nags at him.
“One game our energy is there, the next wala,” rued Trillo. “So far we’ve been inconsistent and that simply would not do.”
Especially Thursday, when the Aces take on a Talk N Text crew aching to get back on track at the Mall of Asia Arena.
A win is a must for the Tropang Texters since it will help them ease the pain of a 63-77 loss to Petron Blaze last Saturday and boost them up in the standings.
To help achieve TNT’s immediate target, Ryan Reyes is finally seeing action after sitting out the first two games due to a nagging knee injury.
Ranidel de Ocampo, who is nursing a calf muscle strain, remains doubtful for TNT, however.
For its part, Alaska is coming off 93-97 loss to Barako Bull last Sunday, just two days after cruising to an 84-80 win over San Mig Coffee.
The way his charges, who led by 15 points twice in the fourth quarter, were outworked by the Energy in the endgame is Trillo’s main concern.
“Playing back-to-back games is really tough, but that’s no excuse,” maintained Trillo. “We’ve got to do a better job closing out.”
Otherwise, the other main facets of the Aces’ game are humming.
Cyrus Baguio is off to one of his finest starts in a conference with 18.3 points per game, while Calvin Abueva, notwithstanding perennial foul troubles, and Gabby Espinas are good for at least 10 rebounds an outing.
How Aces main playmakers Jayvee Casio and RJ Jazul match up against Jimmy Alapag and Jayson Castro is the biggest question, along with how Sonny Thoss, Espinas and Abueva will fare against the likes of Ali Peek, Kelly Williams, Nonoy Baclao and Sean Anthony. (NC)
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