PBA: Aces make coaching change; Banal out, Trillo in as interim

(Updated 2:59pm) The Alaska Aces have tapped Luigi Trillo as their interim head coach after Joel Banal resigned "over the weekend," the PBA team announced on Monday via press release.   "The goal of the Alaska franchise is to be in the semis of every conference and we did not meet that goal in the past two conferences, so I wanted to give management the chance to look at options," Banal was quoted as saying in the statement.   In his place, owner Wilfred Uytengsu and general manager Joaqui Trillo installed Luigi Trillo, currently an assistant with the Aces, as interim head coach.   "Given that we are two-thirds through the season, we felt it made more sense to appoint an interim Head Coach and then decide on a longer term solution after the end of the season," Joaqui Trillo, Luigi's father, explained.   The older Trillo inhibited himself in the final decision, which went down to a choice between Luigi and another current Alaska assistant, Jojo Lastimosa.   Luigi Trillo infamously posted back-to-back 0-14 seasons as head coach of the Adamson Falcons in the UAAP, but he has since shown his worth in the PBA Developmental League as head coach of the Cebuana Lhuiller Gems, getting the squad to the Finals in the league's inaugural season, and then to the semi-finals in the recently concluded Aspirants Cup. In order to take on Alaska full-time however, Trillo had to resign from his coaching position with the Gems, with a replacement still to be named. Cebuana Lhuillier's next assignment is on Thursday, against the NLEX Road Warriors.   "I'd like to thank Mr. Uytengsu and the Alaska organization for entrusting me with this position. Alaska has a winning tradition and we look forward to the challenges ahead," said Trillo in the release. "We can't wait to get started."   The Aces named Banal as head coach last September, after the legendary Tim Cone left the organization, later signing on to become head coach of rival squad B-MEG.   But the Banal regime did not go as smoothly as the team hoped for. Alaska was second-to-the-last in the 2011-12 Philippine Cup with a 3-11 record with Banal keeping the Triangle Offense of Cone intact. That led to the decision to junk the Triangle in the on-going Commissioner's Cup, a move that rejuvenated the Aces, as they compiled a 5-4 record and made it to the quarterfinals, before losing in a best-of-three series to the Barako Bull Energy.   According to CK Kanapi, Sports Development Manager of the Alaska Aces, Trillo will revive the Triangle Offense, but "at the same [time] will for sure try some other plays that he has used in the past." The team also announced that they were bringing back Jason Forte to be their import in the upcoming Governors Cup. Forte helped the team to an overall 8-5 record in the 2011 edition of that tournament, but they missed out on a Finals spot due to the quotient system employed. - AMD/KBK, GMA News