Not anymore.
As the tournament wears on, everyone on that Aces lineup is beginning to get a feel of their roles.
Cyrus Baguio scattered nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, Jason Forte and Sonny Thoss each tossed double-double statistics, and Wesley Gonzales played his best game under an Alaska uniform as the Aces dumped Air21, 98-84, for their second straight win in the season-ending conference at the San Juan Arena Sunday night.
“I’m more than happy that we won our last two games,” said Aces coach Tim Cone. “We’re coming along the way I hoped.” Every player Cone fielded against the very same team that eliminated them last conference contributed, and it was Baguio, the man the franchise acquired for two-time MVP Willie Miller, who bailed the Aces out of an impending trouble in the final period.
The electrifying guard knocked in a cold-blooded three-point shot, and then followed that up with a strong drive to the basket as Alaska bolted loose from a 75-70 count and onto a safer 80-70 lead. The Aces were never again threatened since then.
Yet Cone didn’t pinpoint Baguio as the sole savior.
He admired the defense of his import Forte, who he said contained Danny Seigle a game after limiting Joe Devance, a former Ace, in their 107-102 win over B-MEG. He praised Gonzales for his effort on both ends of the floor, and Cone commended his bench for a job well done.
“On consecutive nights, Jason took Joe Devance out of the game, and took Danny Seigle out of the game,” said Cone.
“Wesley finally showed why we got him. He’s one of the few guys who makes individual stops and then contributes on offense.” Forte came away with 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Thoss had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Alaska. Gonzales, on the other hand, surprisingly started out and finished with 13 points, including a three-point shot that pushed the Aces to an 85-72 lead with exactly two minutes remaining in the game.
While Forte may still have a lock on his job at Alaska, it may be entirely different in the case for Stefhon Hannah.
Hannah finally delivered an inspiring performance in leading B-MEG to a 104-92 victory over Meralco, scattering all of his 23 points in the second half, an explosion that might not be enough to secure a prolonged stint.
“This is his first good game,” said Llamados’ coach Jorge Gallent. “But we cannot just wait for another good game. We just need a guy who can give us consistency.”
Expected to replace Hannah when the Llamados take on Talk ‘N Text in Dubai on June 30 is Darnell Hinson, who arrived late Saturday night in Manila from Japan.
James Yap, who fouled out with 2:42 left in the game, led the Llamados with 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field, and Joe Devance contributed 21 points and nine rebounds. PJ Simon added 17 points, 13 coming in the second half.
The Bolts suffered their second straight defeat and dropped into a tie with the Llamados, Petron and Alaska at 2-2 in the hot chase for semi-finals berths.
Champ Oguchi scored 27 points, Sol Mercado had 23, and Gabby Espinas collected 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Bolts, who also drew 17 rebounds from Asi Taulava.
In a way, the win by Alaska delivered a minor measure of revenge. Air21 booted the Aces out in the Commissioner’s Cup, rallying from a 1-0 quarter-finals deficit to win the next two games and advance to the semifinal round.
“The next time we beat Air21 I hope is when it counts,” Cone said.
Unknown to the 13-time champion coach, the loss the Express suffered could mean big in the long run.
That’s because Air21 has now dropped its fourth game in a row without a win to show. The Express now have four games left in their elimination round campaign.
Worse, Air21 has yet to get something from import Alpha Bangura.
Although he led Air21 with 20 points on top of seven rebounds, Bangura could have contributed more had he stayed away from fouls. He committed his fifth personal with still 2:02 left in the third period, was rested, got fielded back with 8:03 in the fourth quarter but could only pour in four points the rest of the way.
Nino Canaleta and Carlo Sharma added 16 points apiece, while Danny Seigle was held to 4-of-14 shooting in scoring 10 points. Seigle also had 12 rebounds.
