Aces mighty proud with 28th finals in 29 years
Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
After a quick recovery from an early playoff exit last conference, the Alaska Milk Aces are back in the PBA Finals, keeping their lofty status as among the league’s best in the post Crispa-Toyota era.
With their stirring sweep of the Star Hotshots in their best-of-five semifinal showdown, the Aces booked a second finals stint this season and their 28th in 29 years of participation in the local pro league.
Coach Alex Compton and his chargers go for the PBA Governors Cup crown either against the San Miguel Beermen or the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
San Miguel is in the hunt for a 35th finals in 40 years while Rain or Shine is in pursuit of a fifth title playoff since joining the league in 2006.
Next up with the most finales are Star with 27, Ginebra 21, Crispa 19, Toyota 18, Talk n Text 16, and Great Taste and Shell with 10 each.
The Aces have won 14 of 27 previous finals appearances for a remarkable .518 mark, second best from among teams with at least a haul of seven PBA championships.
Since the end of the fabled Crispa-Toyota rivalry, San Miguel has made the finals 31 times and went all the way to win the championship in 18 occasions for a .529 winning mark.
Star is third with 13 crowns out of 27 finales (.481), followed by Talk n Text with seven titles in 16 title playoffs (.437), then Ginebra with eight wins in 21 finals (.380).
Crispa logged a high .684 record in making the finals 19 times, and winning 13 of those over 10 seasons from 1975-1984. Toyota had an even .500 mark winning nine of 18 title series.
Overall, San Miguel has won 20 crowns in 34 finals in 40 years.
The Beermen have a chance at forging a repeat of their Philippine Cup title playoff versus the Aces. Or if could be the first-ever title confrontation between Alaska and Rain or Shine.
Alaska is making a return trip to the finals after stripping coach Tim Cone and his Star squad of the last jewel from their grand slam season last year.
But the Aces insisted it’s not about them beating their former coach.
Team owner Wilfred Steven Uytengsu said it’s about keeping their winning tradition.
“To me it’s just about getting to the finals. He (Cone) happened to be the opposing coach, just like any other coach. We’re happy to win,” said Uytengsu as quoted by a sports portal.
“We played great all conference and coming to the playoffs, we played some very good teams and we played Star, which is obviously a well-coached team and a strong team at that.” (SB)
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