SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – The 2013-2014 PBA season wasn’t the most spectacular for the Alaska Aces.
One of the most successful (14 championships) franchises in league history, the Aces failed to make it to the finals in each of the three conferences while having to deal with the resignation of then reigning PBA Coach of the Year Luigi Trillo at the start of the Governors’ Cup.
Some questioned whether Trillo, who helped lead the Aces to the 2012-2013 PBA Commissioner’s Cup championship, did actually resign or was fired behind the scenes considering the dwindling play of Alaska leading up to his departure.
Nonetheless, Alaska turned in a new direction when they hired Alex Compton to take over play-calling duties. His tenure didn’t get off to a good start, as Alaska played uneven .500 basketball to finish the elimination round with a 5-4 record, which surprisingly was good enough for a no. 3 seed and twice to beat advantage.
But the road to the playoffs was rocky, as Alaska suffered their worst loss in franchise history in a game to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 123-72, during the eliminations while rumors that the team would be sold to incoming PBA franchise NLEX surfaced.
The Aces managed to get by their growing pains of having a new coach teaching his system on the fly and deal with the outside distractions and took the Painters to the wire in a 5-game series during the semis before eventually getting eliminated.
The Aces now enter the 2014-2015 PBA season with more confidence with the players getting more time to acclimate to the system established by Coach Compton.
The team has also put to rest the rumors of a potential sale, saying the franchise is “here to stay.” And with new quality roster members on the board, Alaska figures to be one of the teams to watch out for when the PBA Philippine Cup commences on Sunday, October 19.
“Basically we needed this break,” Aces general manager Richard Bachmann said.
“We were out maybe one and a half or two months. Alex right now put his system. Now it’s a new system so basically I would figure we’d be in the top eight.”
Bachmann further clarified, saying the goal for the Aces right now is to at least be one of the teams that make the playoffs of the Philippine Cup.
“That’s our goal right now – just to get to the quarters. Then from the quarters, let’s see,” said the Alaska general manager, who’s confident of his club’s chances of reaching that goal with their new players in uniform.
One of which is Filipino-Italian guard and Asean Basketball League veteran Chris Banchero, picked 5th in the 2014 PBA Draft, who was expected by pundits to go in the top two.
Luckily for the Aces, Banchero fell to their laps.
“We actually weren’t prepared for him to be there. We were looking at another player,” admitted Bachmann, who mentioned the team was hoping to draft Matt Ganuelas before Banchero became available.
“With Banchero coming into the lineup, now we have a backup for Jvee Casio. He’ll be coming off the bench and maybe he’ll be backing up Jvee Casio and RJ Jazul, or maybe he’ll actually be playing with Jvee Casio. He’ll be actually helping out and we added also Rome Dela Rosa (1st pick in the 2nd round by the Aces) and he’ll be a big help.”
The addition of Banchero gives the Aces a quality pass-first point guard who also has a pro-ready body and the potential to become a lockdown defender.
“Yeah, he’s ready to play in the PBA. He’s quick and basically he likes to pass. And that’s perfect for our team. The big guys will be happy. He’s not selfish. He’ll drop passes,” Bachmann said.
“He’s going to learn from Jvee,” the general manager said about the team’s back-up and starting point guards, the latter of whom averaged 12.6 PPG and 3 APG last season.
“If he (Banchero) can become at par with Jvee that would be perfect for us. He has the strength to be a stopper too.”
Another advantage of adding Banchero, a favorite of the public, according to Bachmann, has been the increase in popularity of the Aces.
“I think it added around 20,000 in our Facebook account – Alaska Aces. Funny thing, even my daughter, when we drafted him, was like, ‘Dad, I’m going to your practices, I’m going to your games,’” the Alaska general manager joked. “So it’s there.”
Bachmann also said that a roster addition Aces fans should be excited for is the arrival of former PBA MVP Eric Menk, who despite being years beyond his prime still brings a positive attitude and impressive work ethic to the franchise.
“We haven’t replaced any player. We just added key players. We actually dropped Nic Belasco and we added Eric Menk. Eric Menk right now can help us and he’s in shape and I’m excited for him too,” he said.
Menk averaged 5 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 17 MPG for the GlobalPort Batang Pier last PBA season. Alaska’s projected starting center for this season, Sonny Thoss, put up 11 PPG and 7.6 RPG in 2013-2014.
“The nice thing with Eric is good work ethic and it rubs off on all other players. Like Sonny Thoss. And Sonny Thoss can experience what an Eric Menk brings. And that will cascade down to our reserves.”
The responsibility of Menk is already rubbing off on the rest of the team, including with one of the roster’s main guys who has been criticized in the past for lack of discipline.
“I would want you guys to see this conference for Calvin [Abueva]. He’s settled down in practice and I can’t wait to see him (play),” Bachmann said about their 26-year-old small forward, who after averaging 12.2 PPG and 9.3 RPG in his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2012-2013 struggled for most of his sophomore season, putting up just 9.2 PPG and 7.3 RPG.
But it looks like Abueva may have a bounce back year once Alaska opens their season against defending Grand Slam champion San Mig Coffee Mixers on Wednesday, October 22.
“You guys will all be happy,” Bachmann promised about Abueva’s play.
“We’re excited to actually play this coming conference,” he also said. “We have a new coach, we have a new system, so they’re all excited.”
“We just can’t wait.”
– Rappler.com
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