Pre-season trade acquisition Michael DiGregorio is expected to fill up a huge role for the revamped Alaska Aces in the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup, which is currently on a halt due to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak.
Aces head coach Jeffrey Cariaso said that he hopes that the Filipino-Italian sniper will deliver the goods for his team in the All-Filipino like what he did to his victims during Alaska’s eight preseason matches.
“We’re gonna expect Mike (DiGregorio) to really be a big part of what we do, to join Vic (Manuel) and the other guys in leading us in how we wanna play offensively,” said Cariaso, who hopes to carry the Aces past the quarterfinals this season.
DiGregorio, who was acquired by the Aces via a trade with the Talk ‘N Text KaTropa for Simon Enciso, averaged 9.8 points on 39.5 percent three-point shooting in 2019 with Blackwater Elite and later with the KaTropa.
“DiGregorio is still learning a little bit how we do things defensively and the concepts of how we rotate. But you know he’s a special player, so, he’ll learn it,” Cariaso added.
Aside from DiGregorio, Cariaso is also expecting big things from veteran guard Joseph Evans Casio, who will take over the spot vacated by Enciso.
“He’s that stabilizer 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,” Cariaso said on Casio.
Cariaso added: “So, I’m challenging Casio to be a little bit more aggressive from how he was in the past couple of years. I feel he has a lot of mileage in his legs, so we expect him to be a big part.”
The Alaska coach retained the core that helped him land the No.7 seed in the PBA Governors’ Cup, which is led by Manuel, Casio, Jeron Teng, Kevin Racal, and Maverick Ahanmisi, along with late 2019 recruits Abu Tratter, Robbie Herndon and Rodney Brondial.
Aside from DiGregorio, the other newcomers for Alaska this season are 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. “If we prepare well, the team is more confident. They understand the system better with the new faces.”/PN
