THE Boss is back and the Aces have him.
Alaska’s big man in the middle Sonny Thoss, hampered by an assortment of injuries the past few conferences, is fully recovered and once again leading the Aces at both ends of the court.
The unbeaten Aces are on top of the standings of the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup thanks to the veteran center who helped the Aces post two huge wins this past week.
For his efforts Thoss was named the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the period March 26-April 1.
Thoss was Alaska’s defensive anchor who contained Mahindra’s high scoring import James White in the fourth period. Thoss also chipped in 11 points to power Alaska to a 98-92 victory over the Floodbuster Wednesday last week.
Thoss was so dominant against White that Mahindra management announced a few days later that they will change White with another import.
Thoss was even better against defending champion Rain or Shine Elasto Painters four days later. Thoss not only limited the Elasto Painters import Shawn Taggart he also scored 15 big points, grabbed five rebounds and issued two assists as Alaska posted a hard-earned 105-102 victory.
“I just tried to give whatever I can to the team,” Thoss said.
Thoss earned the Player of the Week citation over a deserving group of contenders including Alaska teammate Calvin Abueva, Meralco’s Baser Amer, rookies Roger Pogoy of TNT Ka Tropa and Jio Alalon of Star Hotshots, San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot, as well as Star’s Allein Maliksi.
The twin victories propelled the Aces to the top of the standings with their fourth consecutive win this conference.
Alaska’s next game will be against the Meralco Bolts – which parade the biggest, meanest import in Alex Stepheson—on Saturday, April 8 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The 35-year-old Thoss, who incidentally won the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup Finals MVP citation when he led the Aces to their most recent PBA crown, is back in top form. And the Aces have once again established themselves as one of the teams to beat this conference.