Louie Alas

	This Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters
2023–present	Zamboanga Master Sardines (MPBL)
Career highlights and awards
As head coach: MBA champion (1999) 3× NCAA champion (1998, 2003, 2005) As assistant coach: 2× 2013 Commissioner's )
Medals Men's Basketball Head coach for  Philippines Southeast Asian Games 1999 Burnei team

Francisco Luis "Louie" Alas (born October 10, 1963) is a

He also used to work in the Philippine Sports Commission.

Coaching career

His first coaching job was with the

PBA and MBA

He had started as an assistant coach for Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys under Eric Altamirano from 1997 to 1998. Later on, he transferred to the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association.

Alas was supposed to handle another MBA team, the Batangas Blades when the PBA's Mobiline Phone Pals gave him an offer a chance to coach, and immediately took it.^[1] Prior to this, Mobiline was struggling under Eric Altamirano who have been fired together with the whole coaching staff.^[2] While in the PBA, he led the Phone Pals to its best record in the elimination phase of the Governor's Cup in 2000 and 2001 but all ended up losing in the semis. The Pop Cola Panthers was the first PBA team to offer him a coaching job but decided to stick with the Metrostars.

Controversy

However, before the 2002 season, Alas was fired from the team. According to reports, Alas angered top Mobiline officials when he chose Gilbert Demape over John Arigo as the team's top rookie draft pick. But he denied this allegation, saying that he had a series of meetings with the owners, and was given the freedom to decide on what he felt was best for the team. On December 3, 2001, Mobiline announced that Alas had stepped down as the team's head coach.

Alas was replaced by American

NCAA and PBL

In 1998, Alas barged into NCAA territory with Letran. He immediately captured that year's championship trophy by sweeping the San Sebastian Stags in a best-of-three series.

In 2003, his

In 2005, he gave Letran its 16th NCAA Championship by beating the PCU Dolphins 2–1 in their epic championship series despite being down 0–1. They also ended the eliminations with a 13–1 win–loss card which is their best record since 1950.

In 2007, he suffered his very first NCAA championship loss in the hands of the San Beda Red Lions who swept them in two games. during the championship series, basketball analysts were very aware of his coaching mystique that some believed he can pull off an upset against the mighty Red Lions.

Philippine youth and senior national team

He made his coaching debut in the national team by assisting

Alas hails from the fishing town of Unisan, Quezon, and is the seventh of eight children. His younger brother Carmelo is one of his assistant coaches.

He is married to Liza Alas (née Platón), a hotel manager and has four sons: Kristoffer Louie, Kevin, Kenneth, and Kieffer, all of whom are inclined towards basketball. Kenneth is currently enrolled in Far Eastern University while Kristoffer and Kevin formerly played for the Letran Knights. Kevin is currently signed to the Philippine Basketball Association's NLEX Road Warriors.

Historian Pepe Alas is a nephew of his, a son of his elder brother Josefino.

Coaching profile

He is known to nicknames such as "Coach A" or "The Ace Coach". He has a reputation of being a very good motivator and a certified winner. So far he has tallied a total of 220 wins and 120 losses with a .647 winning percentage.

Some of his coaching idols are Larry Brown, Phil Jackson, Dean Smith, John Wooden, and Mike Krzyzewski.

He also has the ability to transform a weak team to a championship contender and turning unknown or under the radar players into stars. His players from Letran that went up to the pros are the best example of that. In 2007, his Letran team, despite undergoing a three-year rebuilding stage, surprisingly made it to the finals only to lose to the San Beda Red Lions, but the team were adored by showing their winning attitude despite being a rebuilding team. He only missed the NCAA Final Four twice (2002 and 2010).

As a coach, he specializes on defense which is the important key in winning a championship. He became the first non-Letran graduate coach in school history to give Letran at least 3 championships (1998, 2003, and 2005) and 10 Final Four appearances.

Coaching record

Collegiate record

ABL

PBA

References