MANILA, Philippines—It’s an overused adage but when a player like Willie Miller talks about putting championships ahead of individual glory, he simply cannot be ignored right away.

He is capable of achieving both.

The Alaska guard has done it twice, the last in 2007 when he led an injury-plagued Aces to the 2007 Fiesta Cup title and won the Most Valuable Player award in that same season.

But the seven-year veteran, who is again in contention for the Best Player of the Conference award, said he’d rather focus on helping the Aces rule the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup.

Buoyed by Miller’s brilliance and the stellar play of their supporting crew, the Aces underscored their worth by clinching the first semifinal berth in the All-Filipino tournament.

“What is important is that we win,” said Miller, the only active player in the league with two MVP awards.

“What will you do with the individual trophy if the team is losing. What is important is for the team to win so that everyone is happy.”

The Alaska sparkplug led the Aces in scoring with an average of 17.2 points per game. He also dished out 4.5 assists per outing.

Miller is in elite company in the statistical race where Talk N’ Text’s Mac Cardona shows the way. Former MVPs Kelly Williams, Asi Taulava, and James Yap are also in the top 10.

The rest of the Aces seemed to have taken from Miller’s cue as Sonny Thoss, John Ferriols and Joe Devance have logged fine numbers.

Thoss registered the most blocks in the league with 31 for an average of 1.72 per game, while Ferriols ranks second in field goal percentage with 53.57 percent.

Devance is the Aces’ best three-point shooter with a 41.67 clip for third overall in the league. Cedelf P. Tupas