By Reuel Vidal

INSTEAD of smiling, Willie Miller of the Alaska Aces was dead serious when he received the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association Best Player of the Conference award.

Known as a cheerful, almost happy-go-lucky individual, Miller was uncharacteristically sullen-faced when he received the award. That’s because his only goal this conference is to win a championship trophy for Alaska.

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa Best Player of the Conference award pero ang pinakaimportante pa rin ang mag-champion ang team. Aanhin mo ang individual award kung hindi naman kayo nanalo? Balewala iyon kung hindi kayo champion, dahil ikaw lang ang masaya. Dapat masaya rin ang teammates mo,” said Miller.

He actually achieved a milestone when he won the award because he is the only PBA player to have won the award while playing for two different teams. The Alaska cager won his first Best Player of the Conference award during the 2005 Fiesta Conference when he was with the Talk N Text team.

He won his second award this conference making him not only a two-time Most Valuable Player awardee but also a two-time Best Player of the Conference winner.

Miller, 31, was the runaway winner of the award, beating Talk N Text’s Macmac Cardona, Coca-Cola’s Asi Taulava, Sta. Lucia’s Kelly Williams and Barangay Ginebra’s Jayjay Helterbrand.

The former Letran stalwart was the resounding choice of the media, the players, the league TV coveror ABC-5 and the Commissioner’s Office after finishing a strong third behind Taulava and Williams in the statistical race.

Miller amassed 1,443 points as against Cardona’s 870, Taulava’s 470, Williams’ 439 and Helterbrand’s 359.

After winning BPC honors Miller is now the leading candidate for the season’s MVP award. Four of the last five BPC winners in the Philippine Cup went on to win season MVP honors.