Dozier not shy after all

Alaska coach Luigi Trillo finally got import Robert Dozier to break out of his shell as the former University of Memphis forward delivered 27 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots in 44 minutes to lead the Aces to a rousing 85-81 win over Meralco in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Wednesday.

Dozier outplayed Meralco’s highly touted Eric Dawson who went from a 37-point debut in the Bolts’ 99-92 win over Talk ‘N’ Text last Saturday to a quiet 15 points against Alaska. In the early going of his first appearance with the Aces, Dozier was timid and could produce only five points in the opening half against Rain Or Shine. Trillo got on Dozier’s case in a halftime sermon and challenged him to take charge.

“What I like about Robert is he’s coachable,” said Trillo. “He listens to the coaching staff and his teammates. I just felt he was a little shy to go all out early in his first game so I kept him on the bench for some minutes. I didn’t want to deflate the other guys’ confidence. I told Robert to assert himself, to be aggressive because he showed in the offseason he can play that way.”

Trillo didn’t start with Dozier defending the Painters’ 7-3 giant Bruno Sundov, opting for Sonny Thoss at position five instead. But when Sundov began to flex his muscles, Trillo went to Dozier who got the assignment in the second half. Although about five inches shorter, Dozier didn’t do badly against Sundov who was visibly spent in the homestretch.

Dozier stepped up and proved his mettle. He finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds but wasn’t involved in the final play that sealed the win for the Aces. Calvin Abueva tied the count, 81-all, on a miracle triple that barely beat the shot clock. In Rain Or Shine’s return play, the ball went to Sundov at the low post. Dozier stood his ground as Sundov, facing the basket, attempted a shot. Abueva elevated to block Sundov’s try. The ball went loose and ended up with Cyrus Baguio who raced up court to sink the marginal basket at the buzzer. Alaska worked a miracle to win, 83-81, last Saturday.

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“It was chaos out there,” said Alaska assistant coach Franco Atienza. “We had a timeout left to call but coach Luigi let the play go. It was the right decision with about five seconds left. Rain Or Shine had 10 seconds to make the last shot. Luckily for us, they went for a shot a little early and gave us time to go the other way. We didn’t call timeout because if we did, Rain Or Shine would’ve set up its defense with Sundov. The gamble was if we miss, it would go into overtime but if we score, we would win.”

Trillo said Dozier was hardly shy in the Sinulog Cup where Alaska played in Cebu during the offseason. “It wasn’t like Robert to be shy in the first half against Rain Or Shine,” said Trillo. “Maybe he got nervous in his first game. In our preseason practice games, he put up big numbers.”

Last Wednesday, Dozier made Trillo look like a genius for hiring him. He wasn’t Trillo’s first choice, to be sure. NBA veteran D. J. Mbenga, rumored to be under consideration by Barangay Ginebra to replace Herbert Hill, was at the top of Trillo’s wish list but Alaska wouldn’t agree to go over the salary cap. Even former Alaska import Diamon Simpson, now playing in Israel, was a candidate.

“We don’t mind paying a buy-out fee to the NBA D-League or any other league but our management just won’t agree to go over the salary cap for imports,” said Trillo. “That’s a matter of principle.”

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Dozier came about a week late because he had to renew his US passport.  When he showed up, Trillo liked what he saw. Dozier, 27, polished his skills in four years with the Memphis varsity, playing alongside future NBA cagers Derrick Rose, Joey Dorsey and Chris Douglas-Roberts.  In 2008, Dozier was on the Memphis team that lost to Kansas in the NCAA finals. A year later, he was selected by the Miami Heat on the second round of the NBA draft. Dozier never made it to the NBA and instead, made a living by playing in Greece, France and Spain. He is making good use of his experience in playing close to the limit in the PBA.

Trillo said with the Aces on a 2-0 start, he’s not thinking of changing Dozier at all. “There are quality imports all around with (Michael) Dunigan, Dawson and Sundov the barometers,” he said. Two of those three imports have already been victimized by the Aces so that’s a high passing mark for Dozier.

To move forward in the Aces’ march to the playoffs, Trillo cited three factors. “First, Dozier has to steadily grow as an import,” said Trillo. “Second, Calvin’s ability to adjust well and play the three position (with Thoss at four and Dozier at five or the other way around) so that in the end game, Sonny, Robert and Calvin can play together. Third, our ability to increase our rebounding and assists but still limiting our turnovers.”

On Sunday, Alaska will battle Barako in a duel of unbeaten teams. It’ll be an early showdown of pacesetters to decide who’s who in the import matchup between Dozier and Barako’s Evan Brock.