ACES GUN FOR EARLY SOLO LEAD
Alaska shoots for the early solo lead as it clashes with GlobalPort on Friday in the 2014 PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Fresh from a 94-87 win over San Miguel Beer last Sunday, the Aces are getting a lot of positives from their import William Henry Walker and locals Sonny Thoss, Gabby Espinas, and Calvin Abueva,
The NBA veteran Walker had 27 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for coach Luigi Trillo in his debut.
“I think Henry (Walker) controlled more of his emotions,” Trillo said, as Walker impressed many in his maiden outing after getting involved in a preseason scuffle which saw him get fined P20,000 by the league.
“Ang problema nung preseason, napipikon sya. The style of play here is very physical. He needs to adjust, and when he adjusted, malaki yung naitulong nya sa team,” Trillo added.
The young coach also gave praise to Thoss, whose energy, Trillo said, has rubbed off on his frontcourt mates.
“(Sonny) was playing with a lot of fire and that rubbed off on Calvin (Abueva) and Gabby (Espinas),” he said.
Trillo said that with a short conference, there is no room for error for teams wanting to compete for the title, and the margin for adjustment will be very slim given the tight scheduling of the games.
He said, “It’s rhythm. It’s really about rhythm for most teams and that will be the adjustment there.”
Meanwhile, GlobalPort lost its opening game against Ginebra last Tuesday, 71-89, with only balik-import Leroy Hickerson and Alex Cabagnot being the bright spots for coach Pido Jarencio, with the duo combining for 51 of the Batang Pier’s 71 markers.
Game time is at 5:45 p.m. (RL)
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
