Alaska tripped by Purefoods

[Watch Game 2 of the best-of-seven championship series of the 2010 PBA Philippine Cup as the Alaska Aces battle the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants, 7 p.m., Feb. 26, Friday at the Araneta Coliseum.]

In a defensive battle that could have gone either way the Alaska Aces were outlasted by the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants, 77-81, in Game 1 of the best-of-seven championship of the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last Wednesday.

It really came down to the fact that they did a good job stopping our rhythm, said Alaska coach Tim Cone. We did not play good basketball in stretches. I did not think we played well at all. But we battled. Some of that goes to them but we can play better than that.

The Aces could hardly be faulted for letting this one slip away as Rafi Reavis, of all people, scored back to back layups which proved to be the marginal baskets against the Aces.

Reynel Hugnatan converted his own layup to cut the Purefoods lead to only two points, 74-76, with 3:53 to go in the game. Reavis then scored the marginal baskets as the Aces fell behind for good, 74-80, with just 35 seconds to go in the game.

Willie Miller drained a triple while KG Canaleta split his charities to finalize the count at 77-81.

Despite the Game 1 loss the Alaska mentor refused to worry too much about the chances of his team.

One game does not make a series, said coach Tim. Especially the first of a seven-game series.

The Aces face an uphill climb with the defeat in Game 1. Fifty out of 78 teams, or 65 percent, which took a 1-0 lead in a best-of-seven series went on to win the series. Historically, the situation is not too bleak for Alaska. In the past two conference finals the team which lost Game 1 eventually went on to win the championship.

The San Miguel Beermen lost Game 1 to the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in the 2009 PBA Fiesta Cup but eventually went on to win the championship. The Talk n Text Tropang Texters also lost Game 1 to Alaska but went on to annex the 2009 PBA Philippine Cup title.

The battle of MVPs was about even. Alaska MVP Miller scored the crucial points for the Aces to finish with 23 points. Purefoods MVP James Yap did the same for the Giants while finishing with 24 points.

But while Miller shone the Giants were shutting down the other Aces of Alaska.

The vaunted frontliners of the Aces, who mauled the Ginebra bigs en route to a 4-0 rout in the semifinals, were stymied, frustrated and simply outplayed by their Purefoods counterparts.

Sonny Thoss, the leading scorer of the Aces in the semifinals with 15.5 points per game, was double-teamed every time he touched the ball inside the paints and was limited to only nine points.

Rey Hugnatan, who had a conference average of 11.6 points per game coming into the game was limited to only eight points.

Joe Devance who averaged a team second-best 15 points per game in the semifinals could only chip in 10 points.

Even LA Tenorio, who also averaged 15 points per game in the semifinals, was shocked to find himself being guarded by Marc Pingris all evening and could only scrape by with eight points.

History has shown that the Tender Juicy Giants are formidable playoff adversaries for Alaska.

In their last championship showdown during 2002 Governors Cup, Purefoods beat Alaska 4-3 to win the 2002 Governors Cup. The Aces actually enjoyed a 2-0 lead but eventually lost the series.

Before that the Aces faced the Giants in the 2000 All-Filipino championship series where they beat Purefoods, 4-1, to grab the title.

The scores:

Alaska 77 - Willie Miller 23, Joe Devance 10, Sonny Thoss 9, LA Tenorio 8, Rey Hugnatan 8, Mark Borboran 7, Brandon Cablay 5, Tony Dela Cruz 4, John Ferriols 3, Larry Fonacier 0, Jeff Cariaso 0.

Purefoods 81 - James Yap 24, Kerby Raymundo 15, Marc Pingris 13, KG Canaleta 8, Rafi Reavis 6, Don Allado 6, Roger Yap 5, Rico Maierhofer 2, Peter June Simon 2, Paul Artadi 0.

Quarter scores: 19-15, 36-36, 58-61, 77-81