Alaska faces defending champion Sta. Lucia tonight in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Astrodome with coach Tim Cone hoping the Aces have finally regained their old form.
Cone admitted being unimpressed with their overtime win over the Barangay Ginebra Kings last Sunday but hopeful the Aces have gotten over the hump when they face the tough Realtors in the 7:30 p.m. match.
“We certainly didn’t win it,” said Cone of their 93-84 OT win over the injury-plagued Ginebra team.
“Had they been complete, we certainly wouldn’t have won out there. I never had the real sense that we were going to win it. I didn’t have the sense that we would be able to stop them. But hopefully we were able to get over the hump with that win. We need to get our game going especially as we’re playing a tough team in Sta. Lucia,” Cone said.
Alaska is battling a Sta. Lucia team which has made a minor change in its roster, activating 14th pick Chito Jaime to take over from sophomore pro Melvin Mamaclay.
The Aces seek a sixth win in eight games while the Realtors eye a fourth victory against three losses.
Purefoods and Talk n Text, meanwhile, clash in the 5 p.m. opener, both looking to bolt out of a four-way logjam at fifth place.