Aces Down

DARNA!

After surging near atop the PBA Philippine Cup rankings, the Alaska Aces have come undone and are caught in a string of misfortunes-- be it increasing non-calls, sour perimeter shooting or losing energetic rookie Calvin Abueva to a nasal issue triggered by a hit courtesy of Air21's Rob Reyes.

Head coach Luigi Trillo and even team owner Wilfred Uytengsu have gone on record asking for parity in officiating-- believing that their guys are getting the shorter end of the stick. There's also something to be made of Abueva being the target of opposing teams' "sahod boys"whose primary role is to make the former King Stag lose his temper and blow the game for the Aces (not like they need any help with that given their current five-game slide).

Well, yes, it does seem that the Aces are being called for a lot of ticky-tacky fouls that the PBA has "abandoned" the last two years. When you look at the Aces, there's not one guy who really stands out as someone who'd dish out the typical, PBA-level gulang fouls like sticking out elbows and other available body part/s during rebound skirmishes or screens (okay, everyone except Abueva). Sonny Thoss? To clean. Nic Belasco? Doesn't play as much. JVee Casio? Really? Really, the craftiest defender they have is Cyrus Baguio-- and he's not exactly big on physical contact (just has great, quick hands and feet).

So yes, we'd have to agree with Aces' fans that their team is getting called for a bunch of fouls that aren't really being called as much for other teams (these days anyway). You could very much conclude that the way it's being called against the Aces-- had Beau Belga suited up for this team, he'd average a technical and a flagrant the whole season.

Then there's the whole "jumpshooter's mentality" thing rampant among the Aces. They do not have a legit, back-to-the-basket big man. Thoss can pretend as much as he wants, but Jervy Cruz has a meaner post game than the so-called "Best Center in the Philippines today." There's also a lack of a consistent slasher-- Baguio (15.45 ppg) does so from time to time, but his crafty ways don't always lead to and-1 scenarios. Perhaps more time should be given to Raffy Reyes who has the speed, build and athleticism for the job as foul baiting slasher. So really, it's quite obvious why the Aces aren't getting much of the calls in their favor, simply because they're not making/ forcing the refs to do so.

More drives to the basket instead of shooting jumpers or threes would help the Aces' as far as leveling the whole "free throw attempts discrepancy" is concerned. Drive more, shoot less. In today's PBA, they won't call fouls on pogi fade aways jumpers. It's just not macho enough for Commissioner Chito Salud et. al. it's not good for television. But a slasher who takes the hit from one-two guys in the lane and still able to convert a level 10 degree of difficulty lay-up? Beautiful.

And that's where Abueva (9.0 rpg in under 25 minutes) comes in.

He's the Aces best, bully-slasher. He plays with reckless abandon, gets hit, takes hits and plays all out. Nothing against his teammates or even the guy whose spot he took-- Mac Baracael, but Abueva changes the Aces' dynamic by a mile.

It didn't work in the PBA D-League with NLEX because he had both Chris Ellis and Clifford Hodge with him playing the same style. They couldn't co-exist on the floor so Coach Boyet Fernandez had to go with the taller Fil-Ams more than Abueva. But with the Aces, despite being just as tall as his shooting guard Baguio, Abueva shines because of the way he plays.

He won't get the benefit of the doubt yet from referees but it will come once he earns his stripes. He's just as much of a foul magnet as he is foul prone. Elbows out, unforgiving, ugly basketball that only the true blue basketball fans love (in the same breath as we appreciate the Terry Saldanas, Marc Pingris, Jam Alfads, etc.)

Really, the way this team is built, they're a perimeter team much like the Scott Skiles-era Chicago Bulls (minus Derrick Rose). Think of Abueva as the resident Andres Nocioni and Casio as Hinrich, Baguio and Hontiveros as Ben Gordon and Luol Deng and Thoss as whoever was playing center was back then. Yep, "Baby Bulls" comparison looks legit (although the Aces play the Triangle while Skiles' team was known for its defensive tenacity).

Word of advise to the Aces: keep on playing. Let Coach Luigi and Boss W take care of "playing" the refs and the league. Abueva will come back, but he shouldn't be asked to be this team's "savior." They have a lot of guys on that roster who could easily shine, it's just a matter of playing defense as a team and not looking or waiting for calls from the refs.

Oh, and more ball screens for Casio.