Alaska Aces Crowned 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup Champions!

Image: http://www.interaksyon.com

 On Sunday, May 19, the Alaska Aces swept their finals series against the Brgy. Ginebra Kings to win their 14th title in the Philippine Basketball Association. The Aces staged a late surge to pull ahead of their competition despite being down for majority of the first three quarters after they went on a 20-3 run at the mid-point of the final quarter. The game ended with 104-80 on the scoreboard, completing the sweep in this Best-of-5 Finals series. Alaska won Game 1 in an 87-70 game and they also won convincingly during Game 2 with via a 104-90 win.

Alaska Aces' 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup trophy is third first in three years and also Luigi Trillo's first championship trophy after taking over the head coaching stint for the Aces, following in the footsteps of Tim Cone and Joe Banal. The championship sweep came before a record crowd attendance at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.


Sonny Thoss was named the Finals MVP after he averaged 14 points. But more importantly, Thoss played a crucial role in putting a stop to Ginebra import Vernon Macklin's dominance inside the paint. Aside from Thoss, rookie Calvin "The Beast" Abueva and JVee Casio also contributed to the scoring frenzy for the Aces that helped them put their competition aside in all of the games played throughout the series. On the flip side, Mark Caguioa and the rest of the Brgy. Ginebra Kings failed to sink the ball into the basket during their many attempts at the 6-minute stage of the fourth quarter.

This conference was dominated by the Alaska Aces from the get-go. They were at the top of the team standings by the end of the Elimination Round, which earned them a twice-to-beat advantage over the #8 team, Air 21 Express. Eventually, they capitalized on that and eliminated Air 21 even after just one game. They also met with the San Mig Coffee Mixers during Semifinals Round, but they emerged victorious after four games.

What do you think was the reason that Brgy. Ginebra was unable to clinch even a single win in this series?

Alaska Aces Snags One Over Ginebra, Leads Finals Series

Image: sports.yahoo.com.ph

Alaska Aces is considered the underdog in the series in terms of the fans given that Brgy. Ginebra is the most popular team in the league. However, that was not enough to intimidate the Aces; in fact, it fired them up enough to open the Finals series against the Ginebra squad in a fiery blaze, giving them a 1-0 advantage in their Best-of-5 series for the PBA 2013 Commissioner's Cup trophy.

On Game 1 of the Finals series that kicked off yesterday, May 15, Alaska Aces ended up winning via an 87-70 rout before a crowd of over 19,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

According to Aces head coach Luigi Trillo, "[the win] is huge" because it boosted his team's confidence going into Game 2 and the rest of the series. Not only that, this win also marks its third win against Brgy. Ginebra for the 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup. However, he is not content with the way they played the game despite the win, as he notes they need to work better at making stops.

Ginebra put in only six points at the opening quarter of the game. This particular output has made it into the record books for being the lowest for any opening period and the third lowest of all-time in a single quarter. From there, Alaska rode their momentum for the rest of the game leading them to victory.

Luigi Trillo adds, "We need to play to our identity. They run-and-gun, get a lot of energy from the crowd when they do certain things...[but] we gave them six points in the first quarter. I think that's our identity, defense."

RJ Jazul lead Alaska in scoring with 16 points as Cyrus Baguio added his own 10 points. On the other hand, their import has played consistently throughout the conference and for Game 1 of the Finals, he chipped in 14 points along with 22 rebounds. Several other players scored in double figures for the Aces including Calvin Abueva, Jayvee Casio, and Sonny Thoss.

For the Kings, the story is much different. They had a paltry 26 for 84 field goal shooting percentage, although they managed to cut down the deficit to 11 with 2:51 left in the game. Vernon Macklin and LA Tenorio were the only bright spots for Ginebra wherein they scored 16 and 14 points, respectively.

If you want to see the rest of the PBA 2013 Finals schedule for the rest of the week, you can check it here.

PBA 2013 Commissioner's Cup Finals Schedule

Tomorrow will mark the start of the Finals action in the 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup and it is going to be a battle between the youngsters and veterans. Experts predict that Alaska Aces will gain an edge over their competition if the series goes to entire length. Meanwhile, Brgy. Ginebra that is deemed the "underdog" of this series will want to end the series early or they might be at a disadvantage.

Brgy. Ginebra arranged a date with the Alaska Aces to the Finals at the 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup after extending their Semis series against Talk N Text to a Game 5 despite being down 2-1 post-All Star Weekend. During the final game of this series, Brgy. Ginebra played an inspired game wherein they beat Talk N Text 111-103 to mark the 20th finals appearance for the franchise.

Meanwhile, Alaska Aces spoiled San Mig Coffee Mixers' plan to defend their title after beating them in Game 4 of their own Semis series. This is also a memorable moment for Alaska Aces since this will be the first time they're back to the Finals since Tim Cone left the team.

Image: www.pba.inquirer.net

Clearly, Brgy. Ginebra will have a home court advantage but head coach Luigi Trillo had his crew in place and even led the team to the number one spot at the end of the Elimination Round. To check the preliminary list of schedule for the Finals game this week, you can check the schedule below:

May 15, 2013

Brgy. Ginebra vs Alaska Aces - 7:30 PM at Smart Araneta Coliseum

May 17, 2013

Brgy. Ginebra vs Alaska Aces - 7:30 PM at Mall of Asia Arena

May 19, 2013

Brgy. Ginebra vs Alaska Aces - 7:30 PM at Smart Araneta Coliseum

Who do you think will be crowned the PBA 2013 Commissioner's Cup champion?

Olympiacos Crowned as 2013 Euroleague Champions!

Olympiacos was just recently crowned as the winner of the Euroleague 2013 Finals and has brought home the crown for its second consecutive year! The Reds competed against the Real Madrid of Spain at The O2 in London during their Finals match last Sunday, May 12, 2013. However, Vanilis Spanoulis and the Reds emerged as winners via a 100-88 game, to close out this season of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. 

The Reds came back from being down 17 during the first quarter of the Finals game. Vassilis Spanoulis, later named Final Four MVP, had tremendous contributions for his team and raked in points during the third quarter to help push his team past their opponent, wherein he eventually scored 21 points overall (which he scored in the second half!). The Reds dominated the final 10 minutes of the game as their fans cheered from the bleachers in a sea of red. On Real Madrid's side, Rudy Fernandez top scored for his team with 21 as Sergio Rodriguez added 17 points and Sergio Llull had 14 points.
Before reaching the finals game in the Final Four weekend of the 2013 Euroleague season, Olympiacos beat CSKA Moscow during the semifinals match. Meanwhile, Real Madrid defeated arch rival Regal FC Barcelona in their own matchup. 

To watch highlights of the Finals game between Olympiacos and Real Madrid, check out the video below: 



Meanwhile, you can watch this interview of Final Four MVP Vassilis Spanoulis of the Olympiacos Piraeus after the game:


Who were you rooting for in the 2013 Euroaleague Final Four?


Disclaimer: All photos and videos credit to www.euroleague.net