AFTER pressing pause on their father-son relationship for a few days, Phoenix head coach Louie Alas was looking forward to having dinner with his son after the Fuel Masters defeated Kevin Alas and the rest of the NLEX Road Warriors for the first game of the PBA in 2018.
"Mula nung new year hindi na kami nagkita," the older Alas said during the post game press conference as he expressed how he missed his son. "Sa Pasig nakatira kasi. (Dati) after the games, umuuwi 'yun. Ngayon hindi muna siya umuwi, sabi niya concentrate muna sila. Sabi ko pagkatapos na lang ng game, let's have dinner."
It was a breakthrough win of sorts for the coach as his son got the better of him when he was still an assistant coach for the Alaska Aces.
"(Sa Alaska) hindi ako nanalo (kay Kevin). First time akong nanalo sa kanya, at least makakabawi naman ako ngayon," Louie added.
A huge part of the reason why Phoenix defeated NLEX, 102-95, was the Fuel Masters' defensive intensity, specially against the perimeter players of the Road Warriors. In the game, Phoenix limited Kevin, Kiefer Ravena, and Cyrus Baguio to single-digit scoring outputs.
Sponsored content: "Actually talagang general ang instruction ko sa perimeter guys ko na as much as possible, force them (NLEX perimeter players) to pass the basketball," said Louie. "Do not allow them to go to the paint. Kasi kapag nakapunta sila sa paint, makaka-create na sila."
"Malungkot ako ngayon pero pag kinantyawan ako nun mamaya, wala akong magagawa. Hindi ako pwede mapikon," Kevin said after emerging from the dugout. "I'm really happy for him cause he's really successful in Phoenix pero at the same time sad cause natalo kami and hindi pa maganda nilaro ko."
Kevin finished with only 6 points in the game on 2 of 7 shooting. (Carlo Pamintuan)
