The Philippine Patriots are atop of the ASEAN Basketball League season yet coach Louie Alas is far from satisfied.
Despite winning nine of its 11 games in the current campaign, the multi-titled mentor wants more offensive spark if the Patriots want to win the league's inaugural championship.
“I’m satisfied with our defense thus far but if we could be more consistent on offense then we’ll be a much better team,” said Alas, who accepted the job as the Patriots coach before the season began last October.
Aside from that, it has been all but positive for the Patriots of co-owners Mikee Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco as they shrugged off a slow start to show the way in the standings.
After his Harbour Centre squad won seven straight championships in the Philippine Basketball League, Romero took this new challenge by adding the likes of Rob Wainwright, Froilan Baguion, Warren Ybanez, and imports Jason Dixon and Brandon Powell.
Assistant coach Bogs Adornado handled the reigns when Alas was still finishing up his chores as coach of the Letran Knights in the NCAA. With the Adornado at the helm, the Patriots beat Satria Muda BritAma, 76-69, in Jakarta to open their campaign on October 10.
However, the Filipino cagers suffered a speed bump the next week when the highly-touted Singapore Slingers, bannered by Americans Kyle Jeffers and Michael LeBlanc and Filipino guard Al Vergara, beat the Patriots, 74-69.
It was a perfect opportunity for the Patriots to retool their lineup by adding UAAP standouts Nonoy Baclao of Ateneo and Elmer Espiritu and Val Acuña from the University of the East and quickly it gave positive results for the team.
Behind these three youthful cagers, along with a rejuvenated Dixon, the team's 6-foot-10 American import, the Patriots coasted to six straight victories, including win over Singapore and twice over BritAma, and eight of the last nine to take the lead.
Their last win came at the expense of the Brunei Barracudas last Monday, 70-56, a victory that somehow avenged their humbling 95-70 setback. That was understandable as they sorely missed the services of Baclao and Espiritu.
During their last eight games, Dixon registered seven straight double-double performances while Powell averaged 15.0 points in the last two games, making up for his paltry three-point showing in their first encounter with Brunei.
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