Despite previous heartbreaks, Aces upbeat on new conference

Alaska Aces. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

After falling short in the last three Finals, Alaska remains driven by hunger and heartaches as it hopes to end its three-year title drought.

And deputy coach Louie Alas could see it from his wards, as the morale in the team’s offseason practices is definitely on a high.

“Kung gagawing basis ang practice, feeling ko hindi napapagod at hindi nagsasawa ang mga players. Yung motivation nilang manalo, nandoon pa rin at hindi nawawala,” he said.

Though the Aces missed the presence of head coach Alex Compton and star forward Calvin Abueva, who are both serving their time with the national team, Alaska’s fighting spirit remains positive as it looks forward to the 2016 PBA Governors’ Cup.

It also doesn’t hurt that import LaDontae Henton is showing great strides in the team’s training, meshing well with the team’s bevy of wings in his near two-week stay in the country.

Alas, however, noted that much of Alaska’s confidence draws from the return of JVee Casio back from a knee injury.

Slowly but surely, the team’s starting point guard is getting back to his groove.

“He’s on his way sa playing form, and we could see na kundisyon naman siya.”

With the team still having less than three weeks to finetune its system, all the Aces want is to stay to their course.

“Everyone in our lineup is capable of being the leader sa team. They keep on encouraging everyone na kahit natatalo, hindi kami titigil hangga’t hindi namin nakukuha yung championship,” said Alas. “Good thing nga na nakakarating tayo sa Finals eh kasi yung iba, hindi. Right now, all we want is to stay positive.”