THE Alaska Aces start their post-Tim Cone era with an explosive battle against the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings today in the main game of the 37th PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
For 22 years, the Aces had Cone calling the shots at the bench until the American tactician decided to part ways with the team weeks before the start of the season. Cone has since joined the B-Meg Llamados.
It would be very interesting to see how the Aces will perform without Cone who guided them 13 championships including a rare grand slam in 1996.
Alaska has expressed that it has moved from the major change and is looking to win the All-Filipino Cup under new head coach Joel Banal.
LA Tenorio, Cyrus Baguio, Tony Dela Cruz and Sonny Thoss remain as the Aces’ main offensive weapons. The team also brought in several key players after plucking neophyte cagers from the Rookie Draft in Mac Baracael, Ariel Mepana, Cebuano Julius Pasculado and Eric Salamat.
The Aces are looking for a great outing before a much-anticipated showdown with Cone and the Llamados on Wednesday.
The Kings aim to barge into the win column after dropping a bitter, 94-93 loss to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in their opening game last Sunday.
In the other game, the Elasto Painters and the Powerade Tigers try to make it two-in-a-row when they clash in the 4 p.m. curtain-raiser.
The Tigers opened with a 98-87 win over Shopinas.com Clickers.
Powerade, Rain or Shine and Talk N Text are tied at second place with 1-0 cards.
Petron Blaze is on top of the standings with two straight wins. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA