Trillo-era Begins for Alaska

It was Trillo. All along.

Forget that the man had two lousy, winless seasons with the Adamson Falcons in the UAAP despite having the uber-talented Ken Bono, sharp shooting Patrick Cabahug, wing man Mark Abadia, Ruel Hugnatan, Marvin Polyapoy, Ramil Tagupa and the closest thing the UAAP juniors had to an Allen Iverson (back in the day) Leo Canuday (who was blatantly robbed of an MVP trophy by Ateneo and Ken Baracoso) at one point or another-- Luigi Trillo has been called upon by Wilfred Uytengsu to right the Alaska Aces ship that Joel Banal has "wronged."

Granted, Trillo is enjoying a renaissance of sorts as far as his coaching career is concerned-- leading the Cebuana Lhullier team in the PBADL to respectable finishes the last two seasons and even in this one. But the guy was called upon by Uytengsu in an effort to "return to the Triangle Offense."


Why the "return?"

Well, the minute Coach Tim Cone saw the light (in the form of light blue bills and some gold trophies) and headed to BMeg, Uytengsu wanted continuity. He wanted the Triangle to be kept and so the selection of long time Cone deputy Banal. Problem was, the Aces never got off to "continuing" what they've lost in Cone by the simple fact that Banal isn't Cone. It's not as easy as merely calling plays inside the already intricate Triangle, it's a read and react gameplan that is perfected over the years.

That's why in the Philippine Cup, you'd see the Aces run what looks like a Triangle early, only to have it blow up and opt for whatever's around when the defense is able to figure it out. Either isos for their guards, or dumping the ball down low-- definitely nothing that looks like the Triangle.

When that didn't work and the Aces couldn't win, they gave Banal the chance to run his own style in the Commissioner's Cup. So what did the bearded one do?

He threw the Triangle playbook out the window and called for an uptempo game akin' to his Ateneo Blue Eagles title squad in the early 2000s.

It worked quite a bit in helping get his guards involved (that plus L.A. Tenorio was healthier this time around). But it came at a heavy price by virtue of forgetting and even impeding the development of the Aces' true gems-- Twin Towers Sonny Thoss and JayR Reyes.

From a coaching perspective, Banal is leaps and bounds better than Trillo. Banal has titles in both amateur and professional leagues. Trillo has never coached a team that has made it all the way to the title on any level.

The pressure's light on Trillo, just the way it should be. Don't expect the Aces to suddenly turn the corner and break into the Semifinals next conference. Don't forget that at the end of the day, Trillo is but an "Interim."