Pre-season trade acquisition Mike Digregorio has played a solid performance in the pre-season for Alaska, rifling in an average of 17.8 points as the Aces won seven of their eight tune-up matches prior to the PBA Season 45 competitions.
And Alaska coach Jeff Cariaso expects pretty much the same from Fil-Italian sniper in the actual battle beginning with the Philippine Cup.
"We're gonna expect Mike to really be a big part of what we do, to join the Vic (Manuel) and the other guys in leading us in how we wanna play offensively," said Cariaso, who plans to showcase his gunners' offensive skills and bring out the best in them.
Digregorio normed 9.8 points on a 39.5 percent three-point shooting in 2019 with Blackwater and later TNT. The Aces got him from a deal with TNT KaTropa for Brian Heruela, boosting their firepower as they bid to gain ground from quarterfinal stints in all three conferences last year.
"Mike is still learning a little bit how we do things defensively, the concepts how we rotate, but you know he's a special player so he'll learn it," said Cariaso.
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"The Jet" also expects much from veteran quarterback JVee Casio.
"He's that stablizer who will make sure that we are running our offense properly, that everyone comes down to their spots; siya yung one true point guard that every team has so I'm challenging JVee to be a little bit more aggressive from how he was in the past couple of years," said Cariaso of his seasoned playmaker, who delivered 9.3 points and 2.8 assists per outing in 2019.
"I feel he has a lot of mileage in his legs so we expect him to be a big part," he added.
Unlike in the last Governors' Cup where he had little time to prepare his team, Cariaso had the luxury of a fuller preparation time ahead of the All-Filipino.
"If we prepare well, the team is more confident, they understand the system better with the new faces," he said.
Cariaso has retained the core that helped him to No. 7 seeding in the Governors' Cup led by Casio, Manuel, Jeron Teng, Kevin Racal, and Maverick Ahanmisi, along with late 2019 recruits Abu Tratter, Robbie Herndon and Rodney Brondial.
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He added Digregorio and rookies Jaycee Marcelino and Barkley Ebona.
"We played a couple of practice games and it's exciting to see the guys come together the way we envisioned it," he said.
Alaska launches its Philippine Cup bid on Mar. 13 against Columbian Dyip.(OL)
