When JVee Casio enters the game only thinking about what his team needs and not having to deal with distractions, the Alaska Aces become hard to stop.
Everyone else on the Aces roster played on the same page, and the team just steamrolled past the Kia Carnival Friday, 101-63. The loss was the worst in Kia’s young franchise history, and Alaska showed the beauty of combining individual strengths into a collective effort running like a well-oiled machine.
Casio finished with 11 points in 21 minutes, hitting all three of his attempts from the three-point area. He was not only a threat from the outside that made the Kia defense work, but he also served as a facilitator to disrupt the defensive rotations of Carnival.
With him and the entire team healthy, Casio believes his squad can go a long way.
“It’s a good feeling,” Casio quipped on playing at a high level agaim. “More on that, it’s kung ano ‘yung kailangan ko gawin sa team. ‘Yun ang iniisip ko palagi. We can be a very good team but we have to be more consistent on defense. As long as we have healthy players, marami pang pwede mangyari as long as we stay together.”
Aside from Casio, four other Aces finished in double digits while the second and third units received good minutes on the floor and also delivered.
Head coach Alex Compton lauded the effort as the Aces rose to 5-2 in the team standings.
“They played hard until the final buzzer and it makes those guys a joy to coach. I am proud of their effort,” he said. “Our collective consciousness was all about getting stops. The thing with managing a group of human beings is it’s 17 unique inidividuals. You emphasize certain things. Sometimes you drift but you go back.”
As far as how Casio changes the dynamics of the team, Compton added: “JVee is a coach inside, it’s very rare he makes a mental mistake. He reads and [understands] the game plan and what we are supposed to do. It’s just invaluable and if there is a measure for basketball IQ, I bet he is in the advanced level.“
