Alaska faces tough task vs Shell

Expect Alaska to work harder tonight – not because it’s anticipating the return of Benjie Paras to the Shell lineup but perhaps because of the tongue-lashing it got from coach Tim Cone despite the win over Tanduay the last time out.

It might just be a tactic on the part of Cone to psyche up his wards, but whatever, it may well fire up the Aces as they’ve frequently done under similar experiences in the past.

The Aces seek a followup on their close win over the Rhum Masters Friday as they tackle the Turbo Chargers in the 5:15 p.m. curtain-raiser of tonight’s PBA Governors Cup twinbill at the Philsports Arena.

Purefoods and Pop Cola clash in the other game at 7:30 p.m. with the Hotdogs looking for their third straight win and the Panthers hoping to rebound from a sorry loss to the Sta. Lucia Realtors in their previous game.

With Johnny Abarrientos, Bong Hawkins and Kenneth Duremdes rising to the occasion at endgame, the Aces survived the ouster of their coach on technical fouls as they barged to the win column of the season-ending tournament at the expense of the Rhum Masters.

But despite the victory, Cone hit his players, saying they couldn’t expect to play in the finals if they produced lackadaisical games.

"Half of me was happy we won the game but half of me was thinking we should have just lost the game if only to get the lesson that we can’t get a crack at the championship if we continue to underachieve," said Cone.

Apparently, Cone blew his top and was ejected from the game in the process because of his disappointment over the performance of his players and the inconsistency of the referees' calls.

The Aces went on to pull themselves together at endgame versus the Rhum Masters and they are expected to do the same as they return to play the Turbo Chargers.

Dropping their first two games against Pop Cola and Purefoods, Shell coach Perry Ronquillo may be forced to finally reactivate Paras from the injured list.