MANILA: The season’s first triple-double belonged to arguably the finest all-around player in the PBA these days, and the Philippine Cup’s first outright semifinal slot belonged to arguably the tournament’s most well-rounded team.
Willie Miller scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and issued the same number of assists last night to lead Alaska to a 76-65 rout of Air21 that clinched the season-opening tournament’s first final four slot for the Aces at the Ynares Center .
The 6-foot dynamo was at the forefront in Alaska’s latest attempt to make the semifinals ahead of everyone else, responding in a way only he can as the Aces snapped a two-game losing skid to rise to 11-7.
“We felt that we had to go back to basics after losing our last two games (and gunning for that semis berth),” said Alaska coach Tim Cone. “We dug down deep and got low, just thinking about defending and letting our natural talent take it from there in offense.”
Miller was on the floor for 40 minutes as Cone played him extensively against an Air21 crew still trying to find its old form after letting go of Ranidel de Ocampo last Thursday.
A winner of two MVP trophies so far in his career, Miller plugged all the conceivable holes in the Alaska offense, which really struggled considering that Tony dela Cruz was the only other player in twin digits with 15 for Cone.
Alaska finally nailed one of the coveted slots after two failed tries as the Aces marched on justifiably so, having set the pace in this tournament right from the start and showing the most consistency while being the healthiest team in the conference.
The Express lost for the second straight night, no thanks to a deal that sent De Ocampo to Talk ‘N Text for Don Allado during the most critical stretch for the ballclub in this tournament.
Air21 dropped to 8-9 and virtually kissed its aspirations of making the playoffs outright goodbye, the best it could hope for at the moment is to qualify with a high ranking in the wildcard to draw the lightest possible assignment.
Allado, the former La Salle center and member of several Alaska champion teams in the past, played for 20 minutes and was good for only two points coming from the free throw line.
He missed all seven field goal attempts and had three rebounds and two blocks.
Sophomore swingman JC Intal led the Express with 17 points and Gary David chipped in with 13. Another reason why the Express went down was Arwind Santos hitting only five points in 28 minutes as the Aces clamped down on him every time he touched the ball.
Meanwhile, down on their luck and written off even before jumpball, Coca-Cola last night fought beyond its perceived abilities and got to live another day.
The Tigers, without their top two players, came charging back from as many as 20 points down in the second period to pound out an 88-86 victory over Red Bull that put them in the wildcard phase while formally eliminating the Barako from further contention.
John Arigo was the one who stepped up for Coca-Cola, playing his best offensive game in more than three years by firing 31 points as the Tigers closed out their elimination round stint with a 7-11 tally, good for the No. 9 slot.
And that shut the door on the Barako, who were hoping that a late burst of brilliance would take them to the playoffs yet again, having come into the game victors over two heavyweights — Alaska and San Miguel — whom they beat by an average of 15 points.
This marks the first time in the last five tournaments that Red Bull will not be playing in the semifinals, and this one could be painful since the Barako had a chance after leading, 39-19, early in the second period.
Red Bull now has a 5-12 record, its last game next week rendered meaningless.
