PBA: Alaska Aces formally announce Luigi Trillo extension

The Alaska Aces released a statement to their team's Facebook fan page, confirming that they have retained coach Luigi Trillo and removed his interim status. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a prior statement on the Alaska Aces site said that Trillo had re-signed for two years. "We wanted to find a coach who has the same values that we have at Alaska, and Luigi, having been an assistant coach for 13 years understands and lives these values," said team owner Wilfred Uytengsu in the statement. "He needs a bit of time to get the team settled and we all realize that we need a lot of hard work to return to our winning tradition. One thing for sure is that we have a competitive team and we just need to live up to our potential." The Aces are coming off "their worst performance since the franchise first entered in the PBA," the statement mentioned. Trillo, who was appointed interim head coach after Joel Banal resigned following the Commissioner's Cup, finished the Governors' Cup with a 2-7 record. "I look forward to the exciting and challenging times ahead. Last conference was part of the process of getting better I'am [sic] a firm believe of enduring with the right people and we have that in the Alaska Aces," Trillo is quoted as saying in the release. As a result of their record, the Aces got the second overall pick in the upcoming 2012 draft, and their plan is to "benefit from a marquee player" to add to their core of LA Tenorio, Sonny Thoss and Cyrus Baguio. - AMD, GMA News