The Express clinched a spot in the next stage after upending the Alaska Aces, 92-83, Wednesday. They placed fifth behind a 5-4 record after winning their last four games in the elimination round. Interestingly, the Express will again face the Aces in a best-of-three affair in the quarters.

Ramos, who coached Air21 back in 2005, added that his team is blessed to have come together and rack up a winning streak that enabled them to enter the next phase.

‘’I thank God for putting us at the right place, at the right time. It’s a privilege for us that we’re in this position,’’ said Ramos, who is in his first conference back as Air21 coach. ‘’At least, now we’re in the quarterfinals.’’

On a personal standpoint, Ramos, who handled the Brunei Barracudas in the last ASEAN Basketball League season, also said his second stint as a PBA coach is a gift to him considering that it wasn’t exactly expected at all.

‘’I feel blessed. Imagine, after my stint in Brunei in the ABL, I came back, and after two days, I signed up with Air21.’’

Air21’s climb towards the quarters wasn’t exactly a breeze as it had to rack up four wins in a row, its longest streak since the 2008 Fiesta Conference, to get over the hump after starting the conference with a dismal 1-4 card.

‘’We won our first game, then the trade happened so we dropped four straight games. Para akong nasaksak nu’ng time na iyon. Tapos nakabawi kami, and now after the four straight losses, four straight wins followed,” Ramos said.

The move to acquire seasoned veterans Dondon Hontiveros, Danny Seigle, Dorian Pena and Paul Artadi from San Miguel Beer in exchange for top three rookies Nonoy Baclao, Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Rey Guevarra finally bore fruit, because these veterans gave the Express the toughness that they need in crucial stages of the game.

‘’I feel blessed na nahawakan ko itong team na ito and ‘yung mga players na na-trade sa amin. Para sa akin, it’s a privilege to handle them. These are championship-caliber players and obviously, they helped us a lot.’’

Ramos said that Air21 may have improved a lot, but he remains wary when they face Alaska in the quarterfinals.

‘’We are jelling slowly but surely right now as a team. Hopefully, we can continue our progress. But still, Alaska is a tough team. It’s a very short series, best-of-three, so we’ll try our best again. We’ll see.’’

‘’I am sure the guys are happy and the morale is high entering the quarterfinals. With the personnel I have, I believe we have a chance against them ( Alaska ). Hopefully we can beat them.’’

Jeric Lopez, Manila Standard Today