Simpkins simply best for Aces

Despite some big numbers last night, Dickey Simpkins’ true value for Alaska goes way beyond the stats sheet.

Coach Tim Cone, in fact, was all praises for the former Chicago Bull who he said is simply taking over the team with his unselfish plays and great will to win.

"The thing about him is that he just keeps on playing. He struggled out there tonight and he’ll be the first to tell you that," said the Alaska mentor after his Aces wore down the FedEx Express, 87-83, at the Araneta Coliseum.

Simpkins, who also played for the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA, did struggle on the offensive end, hitting only 6-of-20 shots and 5-of-9 free throws. He also had seven turnovers but hauled down 23 big rebounds.

"Twenty-three rebounds? I’ll take that. That shows the veteran in him. That shows you a player who knows how to win. That’s the knowledge he teaches his teammates and it’s getting to be infectious," added Cone.

"All he cares about is doing the dirty work for us," he added.

After leading the Aces to their third win in seven games in the PBA Fiesta Conference, Simpkins hardly rested inside the dugout before joining the crowd at ringside to watch the Ginebra vs San Miguel game.

Since replacing Leon Derricks, Simpkins has won two of three games for Alaska. Cone is confident that the best is yet to come.

"I expect us to get better if we keep on digging deep among ourselves. We just made it two in a row and we just hope we could get our third and our fourth then our fifth," said Cone during the post-game interview.

The game was tight all throughout even as the Aces threatened to pull away early in the fourth quarter where they took a 73-64 lead. The Express just came back into the game to tie the count at 83.

But it proved to be the farthest the tournament’s highest-scoring team (97.75 points per game) could go as the Express were held scoreless in the final 1:43. In return, the Aces drew a big baskets from Reynel Hugnatan and a couple of charities from Jeffrey Cariaso wrap it up.

Later in the night, Ginebra seized the lead with a 103-88 rout of sister team San Miguel Beer as it notched its fifth win in seven games while relegating the erstwhile frontrunner to second with a 5-3 card.