MANILA, Philippines – Alaska may boast a twice-to-beat edge heading into the quarterfinals of the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup but Vic Manuel said they won’t get too far if they don’t arrest their lackluster play. 

Manuel warned that the Aces should regain their old lethal form in the builup to the playoffs after merely escaping the eliminated NorthPort, 95-85, on Sunday, October 28, behind a late surge. 

“Masasabi ko lang pagpasok ng playoffs tapos kagaya noong laro namin kanina, sabi ko wala kaming mararating kung ganoon ‘yung lalaruin namin,” the star forward told reporters after the game. 

(All I can say entering the playoffs is if we play like we did earlier, we will not make it too far.) 

“Ang lamya noong laro namin kanina from the start hanggang finish. Parang sinwerte lang talaga kami noong huli na nakuha pa namin ‘yung panalo.”

(We played subpar from start to finish. I think we just got lucky in the end that’s why we still won.) 

The Batang Pier were on the verge of handing the Aces their second straight loss and denying them an outright win-once incentive in the quarterfinals after leading 78-75 midway through the 4th quarter.

Fortunately for Alaska, it regained its bearings just in time off a 14-0 spurt en route to its eighth win in 11 games. 

Prior to their final elimination round game, the Aces succumbed to a 110-116 overtime loss to NLEX last October 26 and survived the cellar-dwelling Columbian, 104-94, last October 17. 

“Kailangan, mas maging maganda ‘yung execution namin, maibalik namin ‘yung dating Alaska na teamwork,” Manuel added.

(We need to execute better. We need to bring back the Alaska that is known for its teamwork.) 

“Kailangan, mas maging maganda ‘yung laro namin – maibalik namin ‘yung dating teamwork noong first 7 games namin. ‘Yun ‘yung kulang sa amin na nawala noong last 3 games. ‘Yun siguro ‘yung magiging problema namin sa playoffs.” 

(We need to bring back the teamwork that we had in our first 7 games. That is what we lacked in our last 3 games. That could be a problem in the playoffs.) 

Alaska awaits its quarterfinals foe as the playoffs begin on November 6. – Rappler.com