Alaska Aces

[outofwhack]

Houston Rockets signed Diamon.

Happy for Diamon!

[outofwhack]

Alaska is still suffering from the JDV-Reyes trade. JDV was that one person they get consistent offense from and more importantly cause matchup problems for the other teams. Reyes could not even give Alaska atleast half of what JDV brings to the table. That was the downfall of Alaska even when Coach Tim was still at the helm.

Alaska never had qualms about trading away their superstars straight up for lesser value but with great potential like Cortez for Tenorio and Miller for Baguio. I think it's hightime for the management to wheel and deal this off season. No amount of chemistry can get this lineup competitive against the top tier teams of the league even with Dela Cruz and Cablay back in the lineup.

I don't think so. JDV who? At the risk of getting some flack - I am beginning to think Banal isn't the right coach for us. We always say we lack at least one more scorer or that our bench isn't that great, but truth be told, I think we have a very talented team that can and should be in the Semis or Finals but I don't know why Banal can't get it together.

Last conference was forgivable, and yes this one too, but if it's still the same next conference, I wish WSU would step out of his 'comfort zone' and make some changes. We all know how he stuck with Cone for yearssss even after Cone was unable to produce a championship for how many years. I'd dare say Cone is who he is now partly because of WSU's patience in him. Had he been in a different team....not sure if that team would've kept him for 20+ years when a bigger part of those 20+ years was...well, sub par.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents....

[yellowmeansgo]

^Alaska's current lineup wouldn't cut it anymore. Not without a scoring machine in its lineup. You could just see how the PBA is changing its game today, making way for a faster pace and exciting ballgame. The no harm no foul and strict implementation of the delay of game is in effect. Most teams have adapted well with it by strengthening their lineups with enough firepower and bench support and seriously Alaska should do that too.

Alaska only has Tenorio and Baguio as their primary scorers and they burn the most minutes on the floor. How do you compare that to teams that have Simon, Mercado, Tubid, Casio, Dillinger, Devance, Buenafe all coming from the bench. I don't think Custodio is in the same league as those guys.

Bottomline is Alaska or any other team for that matter can not survive with just a Big 3 anymore. Alaska needs to bolster their roster if they still want to compete. They are in dire need of another scoring option.

Banal is not the best coach in the league but give him TNT or BMEG's lineup and I'm pretty sure he can also bring them to the Finals.

[Kaede Rukawa]

Banal out, Trillo in?

[sammael]

Snow Badua via twitter


HERE'S A BIG STORY: 1 team ALA ng COACH. As in dumped. Fired. Monday ko na pangalanan.. .

[Marshall_Matters]

Banal out, Trillo in?

Kung totoo to, bad move. Hindi kagalingan sa coaching si Trillo, remember his Adamson days? Dalawang season atang 0-14 ang Falcons with him. Okay naman ang coaching ni Banal, tama lang yung switch ng sistema to run and gun to unleash the skills of Baguio, Tenorio, Custodio and even Baracael, ang problem lang eh ang babaw ng bench.

[tabula_rasa]

Hmmm....interesting. I don't know about Trillo though. Maybe they should look outside the current coaching staff.

[Jay P. Mercado]

The possible teams that axed their head coach may only come from the six eliminated teams. It's definitely not ROS with Yeng Guiao and Air 21 with Franz Pumaren. Ryan Gregorio is a remote possibility. That leaves us with Bo Perasol of Powerade, Joel Banal of Alaska and Ato Agustin of Petron.

Any of these three are likely candidates. Perasol may be given the pink slip for his insistence to have Marcio Lassiter retained. It's also remote but this is possible, especially if Powerade is selling its franchise very soon. Banal is another possibility but I don't know why Uytengsu would kick him out at this time when he has very limited options to replace him. That leaves us with Agustin then. with Rajko Toroman looming behind the scene, I feel that Petron's debacle in this conference may be a signal for team management to replace Agustin with Toroman.

But then, there's a clue in the message that points to Banal and Alaska...

[KevinDurant]

Alaska, WSU must face the reality. IF they wanna challenge the league heavyweights SMC and Metro Pacific teams, he MUST OPEN HIS WALLET. Even if you put the brightest coaches in your team, if your team lacks material, depth, you cannot expect to beat powerhouses. I think this is why Tim left. He wants to be the winningest coach in the PBA. Two titles away from Dalupan. He realized that he cannot reach that if sticks with Alaska. And with every year without a title, he has become the scapregoat for Alaska's not so dominant 2000-2010 decade. At BMEG, he can have arguably the league's best player in Yap. Plus the full backing of the SMC group that can give him more materials to work on. To win titles year after year. Of course, financial aspect was there but in the end Tim chose to leave Alaska because he wanted to preserve his legacy.

[Vit@min_C]

Talaga?wala na si coach banal? yehey!

[outofwhack]

Banal's out? YES!

That's a step in the right direction, IMHO.

[takaki]

I dont think that its Ato Agustin ..... Eala will likely want to see if Agustin can do a deja vu with PETRON next conference.

I also get the feeling that when Toroman does coach an SMC team, it will be with a clean slate - done during the preseason.

==================================================================

Despite the QF exit, some progress was still made by ALASKA since Tim Cone bolted ..... there's just a conference left, why not do the coaching assessment after the season is over?

I just dont know about Trillo ..... his UAAP coaching career was record breaking, in a bad way. I have yet to watch a full D-League game to have any opinion on Trillo's current coaching abilities.

ALASKA management has always been calculated in it's moves ..... it does work most of the time e.g. Lastimosa, Tenorio, Baguio, etc trades ..... yet has had its share of noteable fails (e.g. Migs Noble over Ritualo) - moreso the past few conferences with player trading.

Just to break the mold of choosing the prim and proper one in Trillo ..... why not go for the small gamble in Jolas (if he's interested)?

A fiery Jolas just might rub off some of that swagger to the players - something which ALASKA has had little of, through the years.

[winry_rockbell]

ok naman si Banal at ang run n gun na gusto nya gawin sa Alaska ang problema walang tamang players in hand ang Aces para mas maging effective.

[ErwinSBathan]

Houston Rockets signed Diamon.

Nice! 6'7" height niya sa NBA website.

[jsonmiles]

^^ at least may ilulusot yun below 6'6height limit nya...(American players normally measuretheir height with shoes) di naman sila maglalaro ng nakayapak kasi

[svet23]

if banal is out and assuming si coach luigi talaga ang papalit dapat interim muna, luigi is a decent coach pero need pa niya magpahinog, hindi nga nya mapachampion ang cebuana kahit na malakas din na team sa D league,

for me ill go with jolas, he may not have any experience as a headcoach, but he does have alot of experience as a player. he is a great leader, good motivator, may angas factor which i feel can be a good quality for a COACH(ala yeng guiao)

[fernando_hierro]

Luigi's pending appointment as Alaska Head Coach means something... Last conference for the Aces, then its Cebuana Lhuillier...

[blu_cush]

if banal is out and assuming si coach luigi talaga ang papalit dapat interim muna, luigi is a decent coach pero need pa niya magpahinog, hindi nga nya mapachampion ang cebuana kahit na malakas din na team sa D league,

for me ill go with jolas, he may not have any experience as a headcoach, but he does have alot of experience as a player. he is a great leader, good motivator, may angas factor which i feel can be a good quality for a COACH(ala yeng guiao)

Granting that Alaska want to replace Banal and granting also that they want a current assistant coach as replacement, then its not Luigi nor Jolas. The only qualified to be a head coach among them is no other than Topex Robinson. His record while coaching San Sebastian College will speak for itself.

If the management will dig deeper, they can also find a suitable coach outside of their current assistant coaches such as: Perry Ronquillo, Boyet Fernandez, Leo Austria and Atoy Co.

[dark_runic]

I agree with blu_cush Perry Ronquillo is a good choice if ever...sabi nya hes willing to go back here kung may coaching offer lang from any teams in the PBA....

[demi_god]

Alaska, WSU must face the reality. IF they wanna challenge the league heavyweights SMC and Metro Pacific teams, he MUST OPEN HIS WALLET. Even if you put the brightest coaches in your team, if your team lacks material, depth, you cannot expect to beat powerhouses. I think this is why Tim left. He wants to be the winningest coach in the PBA. Two titles away from Dalupan. He realized that he cannot reach that if sticks with Alaska. And with every year without a title, he has become the scapregoat for Alaska's not so dominant 2000-2010 decade. At BMEG, he can have arguably the league's best player in Yap. Plus the full backing of the SMC group that can give him more materials to work on. To win titles year after year. Of course, financial aspect was there but in the end Tim chose to leave Alaska because he wanted to preserve his legacy.

Two words: SALARY CAP

Yes, some teams still give a d@mn about it.