Kevin Alas (with ball) is driven to return to top form for the Road Warriors. —PBA IMAGES
NLEX guard Kevin Alas played a little over 20 minutes against San Miguel Beer on Sunday night at Ynares Center Antipolo City.
Such a number hardly holds any significance considering Alas’ caliber as a playmaker. But it was quite a bump in playing time.
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Alas played for only 10 minutes in his first game back against Terrafirma last Tuesday. Doubling his minutes at the very venue where he tore his knee ligaments thrice should be worrying for anybody.
Except for Alas.
“Actually there were a lot of people asking me, ‘Why are you playing at Ynares?’ or something of the sort. In my case, I really don’t believe in misfortune or luck,” he told reporters in a mix of English and Filipino.
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“What I believe is that the Lord is sovereign over my life, and he’s in control of everything. I know it’s probably hard to hear that after my three injuries here … But I take comfort that the Lord is in control of my life.”
Coming off gold
Alas’ three anterior cruciate ligament tears all happened in the hilltop arena, and each one came at time when NLEX was playing well and when the playmaker was on track for an impeccable personal run.
The last time he was dealt with the knee injury was in Nov. 18 last year, when the Road Warriors played perennial doormat Terrafirma and when Alas was coming off a Gilas Pilipinas tour that delivered the country’s first Asian Gold medal in over half a century.
The former Letran ace had four points, three assists and a pair of rebounds. He logged most of his numbers in the final frame as backcourt partner Robert Bolick Jr. fired 20 of his 39 points there to the Beermen, 104-99.
Before that, NLEX looked dead in the water, pinned to the depths of a 19-point deficit.
“I’ll be honest. To everyone’s asking, sometimes I don’t know what to answer. But coming into today’s game, I’ve never thought of those [superstitions]. I’m just excited that I’m able to play again,” Alas said, after helping NLEX rise to 3-1 (win-loss). INQ
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