MANILA, Philippines – Alaska coach Luigi Trillo refuses to underestimate the struggling Air21 squad when they face on Friday’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Trillo insisted that the Express’ 2-5 record doesn’t really reflect the capability of Air21.

“If you look at the season of Air21, you’ll see they lost all their games very close. They even won all their preseason games. They play with no let up,” Trillo said in the league’s official website.

The league-leading Aces are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. face-off with the Express at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

Trillo even recalled how they got beat when they last fought Air21. “We played Air21 last conference, [Mark] Isip hit that turnaround at the buzzer. They beat us real good,” he said.

He also pointed out that the Express now has a more complete lineup with the addition of import Michael Dunigan, Mike Cortez and KG Canaleta.

Air21 recently ended a four-game skid by nipping GlobalPort, 106-94.

“Finally, everything fell into place, and we got a win easing the pain of our disappointing losses in our previous games,” Express coach Franz Pumaren said at the time.