MANILA, Philippines — Alaska shoots for a fifth straight win to remain in the solo lead in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations when the streaking Aces battle newcomer KIA Motors Tuesday at Cuneta Astrodome.
Gametime is 4:15 p.m. with the Aces, after victories over some of the pretournament favorites like San Miguel Beer and Purefoods, heavily favored to duplicate their finest start in the post-Tim Cone era.
The Sorento have lost their last four games after opening up with an 80-66 win over fellow rookie team Blackwater, and all but one of those setbacks have come in an ugly manner.
There are reports that KIA will be trying to shore up its roster by talking with several free agents, including former two-time MVP Willie Miller who was left without a contract at the start of the season.
But KIA would need more than one former all-star to stop the Alaska juggernaut, which is being fueled by the gung-ho attitude of third year power forward Calvin Abueva and the cool orchestration of JV Casio.
Alaska has made its defense as its trump card thus far, shutting down the Beermen last week to just 63 points and defending champion Purefoods to 73 more than two weeks ago.
“They say that a team takes the [defensive] character of its coach,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton after taking down San Miguel. “That’s not at all true in our case, I never guarded anyone in my [playing] life. It’s all about the players and how bad they want to win.”
Abueva, the 2012 Rookie of the Year, is standing out simply as one of the best players in the conference.
The smallest power forward in the league at just over 6-foot-1, Abueva ripped down 18 rebounds against the hulking San Miguel frontline.
If at all, Compton can use this game to give his nucleus scant minutes to prepare for bigger battles ahead.
Meanwhile, Meralco guns for a share of second place at 7 p.m. when the Bolts slug it out with sister squad Talk ‘N Text.
Meralco has a 3-1 card and could catch the Beermen and the Gin Kings with a win.
The Tropang Texters are coming off two blowout victories after winning just one of their first three assignments.