Louie Alas savors chance to share court with son Kevin
BACK as head coach in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after 16 years, Louie Alas will now have a chance to either acquire his son, Kevin, from the NLEX Road Warriors, or build on their “rivalry.”
The elder Alas’s recent appointment as head coach of the Phoenix Fuel Masters put the many-time collegiate champion coach and former national team mentor in a postion to lure his son to play for him.
The last time the father and son were in one team was in 2012 when they helped the Letran Knights reach the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) finals against rivals San Beda Red Lions.
In the PBA, Louie and Kevin ended up with different teams. The elder Alas became an assistant coach of Alex Compton when he became head coach in 2014 while the younger Alas was selected second overall by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the Rookie Draft that same year before being traded to the TNT Tropang Texters where he won a championship in his rookie season.
Kevin then traded to the NLEX Road Warriors where he has been able to find his niche as a player as an integral part of coach Yeng Guiao’s system.
Now back as a PBA coach, is Louie, who replaced Ariel Vanguardia as Phoenix coach, bent on adding Kevin as part of the Fuel Masters?
“Of course I want him to play for me at Phoenix, but it’s not my call. It’s his call,” the elder Alas told BusinessWorld.
“But the way I see and feel it, Kevin loves it there at NLEX. He likes the coaches, especially Coach Yeng and the management. Even if I like him, I won’t force it,” he added.
The younger Alas has made known his admiration for current coach Guiao.
In 2014, Kevin had a chance to play for the fiery mentor with Rain or Shine but was traded to TNT.
Last season, Kevin got a chance to finally play for Guiao and in just two conferences, the cager became an integral part of the team’s system.
With the reunion right now too much of a stretch, basketball fans can only look forward to a possible rivalry between father and son.
“I don’t see it as a rivalry. I always want him to play well. When he was in TNT, they beat us once, then he got injured. When he was in NLEX, he beat me twice,” said the elder Alas.
“We just want the best for both of us, so we wish each other good luck.” —