Alaska dumps out San Mig to reach Commissioner’s Cup Finals

No. 1 in the eliminations, it was only fitting that Alaska got to the Finals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup ahead of everyone else.
And it was even sweeter that the Aces did it by eliminating their former coach.
Robert Dozier turned what was a forgettable offensive night into what could be his defining game by draining five crucial points in the stretch that helped the Aces carve out an 83-78 decision of San Mig Coffee that formally ended the Mixers’ reign at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
And with a 3-1 victory in the best-of-five series, the Aces will also be making their first title series appearance since winning the 2010 Fiesta Conference with Diamon Simpson as an import and Tim Cone, San Mig’s losing coach, calling the shots.
The win was also the third straight for the Aces and young coach Luigi Trillo ever since losing their first nine clashes against Cone and his new team. Cone left the Aces to take the lucrative coaching post at San Mig at the end of the 2011 Season.
Dozier finished with just six points, but had a shotclock-beating triple and a layup that came exactly 60 seconds after that which spelled the difference in the very tight game.
“We’re happy with what we went through, but we still have to take care of the Finals,” Trillo said as the Aces play Game 1 of the similar best-of-five series starting Wednesday against either crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra or walking wounded Talk ‘N Text.
Game 5 of that series will be played at 6:15 p.m. today with the Gin Kings hoping to take the momentum of a 104-101 victory on Friday and assure that no team makes a return trip to this year’s Finals.
Talk ‘N Text lost in seven gripping games to Denzel Bowles and the Mixers last season.
“It’s tough,” Trillo admitted after bundling out Cone, his head coach for more than 13 seasons. “You look up to the guy who is on the other side. But this is just one step in, you can’t be satisfied by just making the Finals.”
Cone and his Mixers only have themselves to blame for going down in flames for the second straight game.
San Mig had a 52-37 advantage in the third quarter and, like what had happened in a classic Game 3 of the series, the Mixers couldn’t protect the lead they worked so very hard for.
Trillo pointed out to their tenacious defense as the key.
“We were a bit tight in the first half,” he explained. “We settled down in the second half and got stops, which was what we really needed.”
And after stopping the enemy and holding San Mig to a 4-of-19 clip in the fourth period, Dozier stepped in.
“I’m very proud of him,” Trillo said of his import, who came into last night’s game averaging 20 points and the same number of rebounds.
Calvin Abueva was also big, shooting 12 of his 14 points in the fourth period and the Aces found the Mixers to be relatively easy pickings after former two-time MVP James Yap decided to sit out this one because of painful back.
“Not to take anything away from my team, but James Yap could have helped them a lot,” Trillo said. “They lacked one of their weapons, but then again, you have to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way.”