Luigi stays with Alaska

Trillo: Full time coach

So the (surprising) Luigi Trillo era continues amid reports that he was going to be given the boot after an unimpressive interim coaching debut last conference. Granted, he only had a few days to get acquainted with the Alaska Aces as its new head coach and an even shorter PBA GovCup elimination round to run anything so the two-year deal isn't as hard to comprehend as it seems.

Also, Trillo already enjoys the public support of his star point guard L.A. Tenorio-- which says a lot and seems to be on good terms with the rest of the guys having played assistant for so long. Here's a short list that this writer came up with that Trillo will face head-on now that he's the full-time head coach of the Aces.

Tim Cone made this shit look easy.

1) Triangle Offense

Should Trillo run the Triangle? Sure. Whatever he (and the Aces brass) thinks will win them games. Can he run the Triangle? That remains to be seen.

We hated on the Aces for trying to run a poor man's version of the Triangle because that's how it looked on the floor. To be clear though, we are not discrediting Trillo, ex-coach Joel Banal or/ and the entire Aces coaching staff and claiming that they're just Tim Cone wannabes. They're not. They're all brilliant basketball minds, it's just that-- as with Banal's case, it sure as hell looked like he was better off coaching a run-and-gun type (which he has found a lot of success with in the amateurs and even in the PBA).

So far, Trillo is reportedly banking on collegiate coaching hires Louie Alas (Letran) and Leo Austria (Adamson) for added brain power with Alex Compton and Charles Tiu of Powerade also in the mix. That would make for an awesome bench really. Moreso if they could add legend and current Perpetual Help coach Aric del Rosario.

Triangle? What triangle?

2) #2 Overall 2012 PBA Draft Pick

With Petron all set to pick big man Junemar Fajardo as the number one overall pick, the Aces will be given the luxury to choose between athletic and still developing wingman Clifford Hodge or the undersized (for his power forward position anyway) yet tenacious and complete O and D player Calvin Abueva.

Prior to Trillo's new deal and the assistant coaches he's set to bring in, we were all sold on Hodge as being the number 2 pick. It was just natural for the Aces-- a wiry Fil-Am who is more blue collar (save for the dunks of course) than flashy. He could easily slide into that hybrid forward spot that the Aces seem to be a big fan of with guys Tony dela Cruz, Mac Baracael and Gabby Espinas all in the fold.

BUT

Abueva to Alaska? Pwede!

Only an absolute idiot would argue that Hodge is the better player than Abueva. Maybe Hodge will improve in two or three years' time. Maybe he learns to play more physically and improves his J. Maybe he doesn't.

With Abueva, if he were only two or three inches taller, he'd be Arwind Santos II-- only on a mean, "take no prisoners" streak.

Trillo can "handle" guys from the provinces-- as he did in the PBA Development League with MVP Vic Manuel. Alas and Austria both have the experience in handling "nutjobs"-- specially Austria, who manned the Adamson post (which players are, let's just say, not the DLSU/ ADMU type). Bring in a fellow Cabalen like del Rosario and yes, Abueva would have that "father figure" he sorely needs to keep his head on straight and win games. The del Rosario signing would be a huge factor if the Aces are to get Abueva.

Somehow, this writer just doesn't see Trillo being able to control Abueva. If you've been paying close attention to San Sebastian games, head coach Topex Robinson is often left a bystander when it comes to coaching Abueva and telling him what to do for a full 48 minutes.

Think about it. Abueva would add that "fire" that the clean-cut Aces lacks. Tenorio has it. Sonny Thoss is too business-like. TDLC is a nice guy. Baracael barely plays. Bonbon Custodio sold out and, well, Cyrus Baguio doesn't even know the meaning of the word.

3) Will the Aces stay in the PBA


With Trillo's appointment, it seems that the Aces are in it for the long haul and will be staying in the PBA (for the next two years at least, but anything is possible in the PBA). There were rumors that the team was going to disband after an off-court management deal but owner Wilfred Uytengsu, Jr. has always been a man of class and overall competitor who has built his company's children's sports program around their PBA team. Hard to imagine them leaving the league really. If anything, the PBA needs more guys like Uytengsu and teams like the Aces.

Congratulations once again to Trillo on his full-time gig and may the Aces enjoy a better season as they enter their second year without Cone.