Hostile: Alaska vs Rain or Shine

Ala-RoS has all the makings
of a WWE Title Fight

... is the word that best captures what fans wanted to see in yesterday's match pitting the streaking Alaska Aces and steady Rain or Shine Elastopainters. It was a glimpse of what the PBA was turning into: the team that embodies the last two years' physical, throwback, Pinoy game versus the other one that is exploring this "new" territory behind rookie Calvin "The Beast" Abueva.

But Beau Belga "pa-simples" aside, fireworks didn't erupt. Our prediction of "two flagrants and three technicals"didn't come into fruition. The game was tight with the Aces leading by no more than 6 points at the end of 3 quarters before the Elastopainters, true to form, came storming back behind ace gunner Jeffrei Chan (who we now understand was given the monicker "Negros Sniper"-- okay, we can work with that.)

Aces' head coach Luigi Trillo, seeing red in the eyes of the Elastopainters' Extra Rice Inc., Kargador Corps and even from defenders Ryan Arana and Jireh Ibanes, held his prized rookie Abueva back and used him sparingly (18 minutes). It wasn't because they feared for The Beast's safety, it was probably more of a calculated decision to let Abueva have a feel of the Elastopainters' style of play, then watch from the sidelines to learn more about it.

You could say that Coach Luigi opted to have his young ward to simple "get his feet wet" and not really "dive headfirst into the ocean."

Mahirap na, kumpleto pa naman ngipin ni Abueva.

With the freelancing Abueva out of the picture, the Aces were forced to set-up shop and fall right into the hands of the Elastopainters' defense. Say what you will about the guys on Coach Yeng Guiao's team, but they are truly the best team/ help defenders in all of Philippine basketball today anchored on lockdown one-on-one defender Ibanes and shotblocker JayR Quinahan (who enjoyed a rare 20 points, 7 rebounds night).

Cyrus Baguio and JVee Casio finished with 16 points apiece, but they were getting it from the outside. It was back to the old Baguio really-- you know, the guy who opts for fadeaways and soft finishes around the rim in fear of being sent to the floor or getting hurt. We're not hating on the guy (he's a fellow Thomasian, gave me his arm band once after a game), but that's just how he plays the game. He's a creative slasher and efficient scorer, but not one who's really bent on "palitan ng mukha" basketball.

Once the Aces were reduced to a jumpshooting team, it was all downhill from there. Chan caught fire, Quinahan was a force in the paint, and his back-up bruising buddy Belga a.k.a. Air Jollibee was making an ass out of "the best center in the Philippines" Sonny Thoss.

This was a great learning curve for the Aces since it wasn't only a "law of averages" thing. It was a lesson in humility, that they still have room to learn and reassess where they need to get better. Slashing/ driving to the rim is an issue when Abueva's not on the floor. Also, a back-to-the-basket scorer could've helped them somewhat just to take the pressure off Baguio.

Say what you will about the Aces (and teams that thrive on playing unconventional) and how they're going to force teams to play their style (2/3 triangle offense, 1/3 Abueva), but it was pretty clear that they weren't really in control last night.