Dozier just what the doctor ordered for Alaska Aces

Alaska coach Luigi Trillo has no regrets that he ended up signing Robert Dozier instead.
Ranged against an import they sorely wanted, the Aces last night streaked to their second straight win and claimed a piece of the early PBA Commissioner’s Cup lead after nipping Meralco, 85-81, at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Dozier cemented his place in the Alaska roster with a 27-point, 14-rebound and six-block performance, and Trillo devised a defensive ploy that held Eric Dawson to the minimum as the Aces climbed into a tie with idle Barako Bull at 2-0.
Dawson was Alaska’s original choice as an import only for Trillo to be beaten to the punch by the Bolts.
And after debuting with 37 points and 14 rebounds in an upset victory over Talk ‘N Text over the weekend, Trillo was convinced that they had let a gem slip away, until they did something about it last night.
“We had to put focus on Dawson,” said Trillo as the Meralco import was good for just 15 points and 13 rebounds in 45 minutes on the floor. “Give credit to Sonny Thoss. What a performance he had defensively.”
Thoss put a body on Dawson all night long and fouled out with under three minutes remaining. But he did the damage, and Dozier came out the far better import as far as their match-up was concerned.
“I like his versatility, it’s awesome,” Trillo said of Dozier. “Dawson would have been dominant in the Triangle (Offense, Alaska’s system). But we will stick with Dozier. He brings a lot to the table for us.”
Another import shone in the second game and Petron Blaze barged into the win column and kept sister squad and defending champion San Mig Coffee winless.
The Boosters got a huge lift from NBA veteran Renaldo Balkman on both ends as Petron held the Mixers to eight points in the second period and to 22 the entire first half for a 98-73 decision later in the night.
Balkman, who had stints with Dallas and Denver in the NBA, scattered 28 points that went with 15 rebounds and five assists and Jay Washington had 17 and nine boards as the Boosters rebounded from a sorry loss to Globalport on opening day Friday.
“It’s a good bounce back win for us,” Petron coach Olsen Racela said.
“He (Balkman) put up good numbers, but more than that, it was the intangibles that he came u with that led to this win,” Racela said. “That’s the reason why we got him, not much for his scoring, but for the energy that he brings to the team.” James Yap, the former two-time MVP, paced the Mixers with 25 points and import Matt Rogers added 20 and nine rebounds.
But what was intriguing was the fact that the Mixers lost big last night despite playing with an import for the first time. In a narrow loss to Barako Bull last Saturday, San Mig was without Rogers, who was down because of food poisoning.
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra, after opening up with a loss, is busy shopping around for someone to replace Herbert Hill.
The Gin Kings are burning telephones lines to several agents in the United States in order to tap a better reinforcement after Hill debuted in a so-so manner with 17 points in a loss to Air21.
Ginebra battles the Batang Pier tomorrow and then the Boosters on Sunday.