Straight outta patience

#wenotme , definitely.

Because we are ‘hood like that.

Seriously though, it must be tough to be an Alaska Aces fan these days. The system that is being run by coach Alex Compton obviously works thanks to the four PBA Finals trips but you cannot help but question if your team is actually good enough to win it all.

Good enough; if only Coach Alex would play certain guys longer, or maybe not choose to sit down whoever’s having a near-career night, maybe go younger, and so on.

“This is Alaska! We are #wenotme ! You are not allowed to play 35 minutes, score 30 points and grab 15 rebounds unless you are an import! Sit down! Where’s Tony? Ref, suuuuuubbbbb...”

You get the picture.

Should the Aces fans “trust the process” because they are now slowly starting to incorporate neophytes Kevin Racal, Rome dela Rosa and some Ping Exciminiano in the scheme of things? Because they rid themselves of the mid 30s year old Cyrus Baguio? Because Tony dela Cruz is no longer playing meaningful mi—oh wait, we’ll hold out on that one.

Coach Alex was once hailed as an outstanding PBA coaching mind: his defense is spectacular while his offense is a fusion of Tim Cone’s, Yeng Guiao’s and maybe some Leo Austria’s aside from other philosophies.

But from where we sit, as RoS fans, Coach Yeng Guiao trusts the players first, system second. If a guy waxes hot, or puts in the effort, he stays on the floor for as long as he is able to go up and down the court. For Coach Alex, it appears to be system first, players second. In yesterday’s match versus Mahindra, Exciminiano had a solid start followed by Calvin Abueva. But instead of playing the “hot hand,” the offense went elsewhere. The players were rotated.

We understand that he is trying to spread out the minutes, that he will most likely stick with it because he was able to get to the PBA Finals with the same approach. But what if, what if all it took to unseat San Miguel Beer in all those four trips, were more minutes for the Aces’ true ace player, Abueva, maybe some more Manuel, call on Chris Banchero to orchestrate a few and just let RJ Jazul and JVee Casio shoot to their hearts’ content?

What if that was all it took?

Maybe, they wouldn’t have squandered that 3-0 lead in the last Philippine Cup right? They’d probably lose to an inspired San Miguel squad, but probably not four straight games right?

What if.

Not a question, but a statement.

We just hope that Aces' fans (which are quietly growing in number it seems) are rewarded for their patience.