Aces leave for Beijing

MANILA, Philippines - Alaska stalwarts Sonny Thoss, Calvin Abueva and Gabby Espinas leave Manila tomorrow to undergo a two-week alternative medicine treatment for their injuries in Beijing then will join the Aces entourage in a US holiday on July 15-21 as a prize for topping the recent PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Thoss and Espinas are nursing back pain while Abueva has a slight tear of the MCL (medial collateral ligament) in the left knee. The treatment will not involve invasive surgery. They will be accompanied by team physician Dr. Facundo Sun and trainer Mike Braga. Conditioning coach Gus Vargas will not join the trip.

Aces coach Luigi Trillo said he hopes that despite Thoss’ travel itinerary, Gilas coach Chot Reyes keeps a spot open for the 6-7 center with the national team playing at the FIBA-Asia Championships here on Aug. 1-11. â€œSonny knows coach Chot’s system and coach Chot knows what Sonny is capable of,” said Trillo. â€œThe trip to Beijing is important because it addresses a problem that has bothered Sonny for a long time. If we rush Sonny to camp, he might not be able to play in FIBA-Asia and the Governors Cup. It’s the same thing with Gabby who’s been suffering back pain since his Meralco days. The treatment in Beijing will include acupuncture.”

Abueva, who was mentioned as a possible late addition to Reyes’ pool, begged off from joining Gilas to attend to his MCL tear. Trillo said scans show a floating tissue or fragment in the left knee. â€œIt’s time to clean up and recover,” said Trillo. â€œIf you noticed in the Finals, Calvin wasn’t dunking as much as he would’ve liked. I remember once he got into the open court in the NCAA and D-League, Calvin would just throw it down. But in the Finals, he didn’t have that lift although he continued to play aggressively. I don’t think we should force the issue. Calvin himself told me he’d like to rest and heal from his injuries. He’s tolerated a lot of pain and he’s not 100 percent right now.”

Trillo said the entire lineup is required to join the US holiday. â€œThis is a team commitment,” he said. â€œ(Alaska CEO) Fred (Uytengsu) will bring his whole family to be with us. Players are allowed to bring one companion. They will shoulder the expenses for more than one companion. We’ll be a total of 105 in the traveling group in Santa Monica. We’ll be going to Disneyland and Universal Studios. We’ll have two team dinners, one lunch, one beach outing and championship rings will be given at the last dinner.”

Trillo will leave ahead of the group to the US with assistant coach Louie Alas and players Dondon Hontiveros, R.J. Jazul, Raffy Reyes, Paolo Bugia, Aldrech Ramos and Cyrus Baguio. The players will train at Joe Abunassar’s Impact gym in Las Vegas on July 4-15 then hook up with the rest of the entourage in Santa Monica. Commissioner’s Cup Best Import Robert Dozier will be with the team in Santa Monica and orient new Governors Cup import Wendell McKines. The Aces will report for their first pre-Governors Cup practice on July 24 or 25 with McKines expected to plane in on July 27. The Third Conference begins Aug. 14.

Trillo said he would’ve liked to bring back import Jason Forte. â€œIt was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made, to choose Wendell over Jason,” said Trillo. â€œBut we just couldn’t pass up someone like Wendell who’s a cross between Calvin and Gabby. It’s about power and Wendell has that. He shoots 80 percent from the free throw line. When he played in France against guys like Jason and Jamelle Cornley, he averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds for a guy who’s 6-5. (Assistant coach) Alex (Compton) saw his track record and it looked like a good choice.”

Trillo, however, said it’s often a hit-or-miss proposition in recruiting imports. â€œRob (Dozier) wasn’t in our original list,” he said. â€œRob never won a championship and played behind stars like Derrick Rose at Memphis. But he had good experience and good numbers in China, Greece, France and Spain. We liked his attitude, his style. He and our team were a match made in heaven.  He was respectful. We had our discussions about how the team should go but in the end, he did as he was told. Rob didn’t care about his stats, all he wanted was to contribute to a winning team. I tried to motivate him by explaining that the PBA could help him in his career, that it would prepare him to go to the next level and if he wanted to, there would always be a place for him with our team in the future.”

Trillo said he hopes Dozier’s attitude will rub off on McKines. â€œIt’s important in our team for the players to be comfortable, to be secure,” he said. â€œThat’s why we signed up Dondon to a two-year contract when he came over. We also signed up R.J. to a two-year contract. With Wendell, we want him to be just as comfortable and play hard so he’s motivated to come back.”