Cone, Aces smell victory

The pendulum in the series has taken another giant swing and, suddenly, Alaska coach Tim Cone smells it again, sensing victory could be theirs in the end.

But the veteran American mentor can’t be faulted.

Stopping the Purefoods Hotdogs with an 85-78 victory Thursday, the Alaska Aces are back in a situation where they have had great triumphs in the past.

Alaska and Purefoods clash in a deciding Game Seven in their Samsung PBA Governors Cup title playoff at the Araneta Coliseum tomorrow. Both have been there before but history tells a lot of good things about the Aces and nothing about the Hotdogs.

For the record, Sunday’s do-or-die duel is only the 10th Game Seven in PBA finals history. Alaska has been to four of the previous nine and has won the last three. Purefoods, on the other hand, has figured in three but has yet to win one.

Alaska won the 1995 Governors Cup over San Miguel Beer, the 1996 Commissioner’s Cup over Shell and the 1998 All-Filipino Cup also over San Miguel all via a Game Seven decision.

In contrast, Purefoods yielded the 1988 Open Conference (versus San Miguel), the 1990 All-Filipino (versus Presto) and the 1992 All-Filipino (versus San Miguel) on Game Seven disasters. The Hotdogs lost the last two both by 19 points.

Curiously, the Aces also stared at a 2-3 deficit in the 1998 All-Filipino and the 1995 Commissioner’s Cups but gallantly fought back and went on to complete stirring triumphs.

A deja vu for Alaska?

Cone doesn’t guarantee an Alaska victory but he sounds confident they can handle the pressure and wage a big fight to nail their first title since the 2000 All-Filipino championship.

Cone is thankful there’s a two-day break in between Game Six and Game Seven. He’s hopeful Don Allado can recover from his ankle injury and play up to his potential in the do-or-die duel.

Allado needed to take pain-killers to play Thursday. But despite the injury, the 6-foot-6 slotman out of La Salle made his presence felt, putting in significant numbers while also playing good defense against Kelvin Price.

"It’s so frustrating losing three in a row. We felt so helpless. But the players got the pressure off, came out strong, hit some shots early and kept the momentum going on," said Cone after Game Six.

"It’s been a tough week for us. You feel like your team is spiralling down. But I didn’t think we gonna lose four in a row," he added.