MANILA, Philippines – Alaska may be leaving the PBA after nearly four decades, but that does not mean the Aces are already waving the white flag.

Team owner Fred Uytengsu said Alaska will be gunning for its 15th championship as the franchise seeks a fitting swan song in the Governors’ Cup, its last conference in the league.

“As I told the team today, we still have one more conference to get our 15th ring,” Uytengsu said in a press conference on Wednesday, February 16. “So I’m not throwing in the towel yet.”

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Alaska retires from PBA after nearly 4 decades

It will be a daunting task for the Aces considering they have not won a PBA title since the 2012-2013 season.

A string of heartbreaks since that last championship run followed as Alaska reached the finals five times only to fall short of the crown in all occasions, the last of which coming in the 2018 Governors’ Cup.

Moreover, the Aces have not made it past the quarterfinals since 2019.

But Uytengsu expects a different kind of hunger from the entire team and Alaska head coach Jeff Cariaso.

“Jeff’s a true professional. He said, ‘Okay, now we got to give it our best shot.’ We have six games to play and we want to finish in the top four and have that twice-to-beat advantage.’ So Jeff is really cut from that Alaska cloth,” Uytengsu said.

“He knows he’s got a job to do and he’ll do it till the very end. He wants to be a championship coach, so he wants to help us win ring No. 15.”

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Uytengsu also vowed not to break up the squad by trading the Aces’ players away.

Alaska currently totes a 3-2 record, tied with San Miguel for sixth place in the standings.

“I have no intention of dismantling the team before the end of the conference. I think every player on our team would like to win a championship ring in their last dance, and we’re not going to do anything to jeopardize those chances,” Uytengsu said.

“You’ve known us as a franchise. We’re going to do the right thing – the right thing by the franchise, the right thing by the players, and we’re not going to derail it.”

For their last six elimination round games, the Aces will face Rain or Shine, Terrafirma, Magnolia, NLEX, Phoenix, and Meralco. – Rappler.com