AFTER bringing down three potential contenders, the Alaska Aces have also left an indelible mark that speaks well of how they intend to wrap up their campaign in the 2009-10 KFC-Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.

But while he is optimistic about their ability to clinch the franchise’s fifth All-Filipino crown, coach Tim Cone contends they are taking it one game at a time and making sure they don’t lose their focus.

“It’s my duty to make sure the players stay relevant to what’s going [on] right now and not look at 9-and-0 or 10-and-0 or the finals. Once you start feeling the games are getting easy… it gets hard and hurry,” Cone said.

The Aces improved to 5-0 on Wednesday, but needed a couple of big plays down the stretch to defeat former champion Sta. Lucia Realty, 91-83.

Discipline and chemistry are key to Alaska’s early success. But Willie Miller and co. may need a lot more than that as they attempt to stay unbeaten.

Standing in the way of the Aces and “W” No. 6 are the Burger King Whoppers, a band composed mostly of unheralded players who seem to find satisfaction by playing tough and physical.

“Its not gonna be an easy thing with [coach] Yeng’s [Guiao] team,” confessed Cone. “Those guys that bring their lunch pill and their hard hats and just go at it, those are the teams we have a hard time with.”

The Aces and Whoppers mix it up at 5 o’clock at the Cuneta Astrodome and Cone remains confident the Aces will rise to the challenge.

Two other matches are also scheduled on Friday. Smart Gilas takes on Coca-Cola at 2:30 p.m., while Barangay Ginebra battles Barako Bull at 7:30 p.m.

Smart Gilas has lost three consecutive games but their chances look good against Coke because the Nationals’ remaining games will be played under Fiba rules. The result though will have no bearing on the PBA teams.

The Ginebra-Barako Bull encounter is also expected to draw attention.

The Kings will still miss injured shooting guard Mark Caguioa while Erik Menk is expected to return and help the Kings (2-1) bounce back from a 96-100 defeat to Alaska on October 25.

The 12-day break should have also recharged the Kings and are now prepared against the Energy Boosters (2-2), who have surprised many observers by beating Coca-Cola and Purefoods—teams expected to fare well this conference.

Guiao said the Whoppers (3-1) have done their homework but admitted it would be hard to break Alaska’s confidence and stop its rampage.

“But one of these days they will have bad nights. I just hope it happens during our game,” Guiao said.

During a preseason scrimmage, Burger King managed to lead Alaska by 24 points, something the Whoppers could do again, according to Cone.

“San Miguel and Talk ’N Text are the scariest teams in the league, but sometimes I prefer playing them than Burger King. They’re just tough, they’ll get into your skin and they take you out of what you like to do. So we got to control our emotions,” Cone said.

“But we’ve been rising to the challenge each time. So I expect our guys to rise to the challenge again.” Dave Coros