Alaska Aces head coach Alex Compton was visibly disappointed while talking about his team’s defense — or lack of — after Alaska dropped a 107-93 game to Globalport in the semi-finals series opener.
It was definitely not the ideal way to begin things in a high stakes, best-of-7 duel, and Compton went on to speak lightly of the game in jest, trying to find answers after the Aces struggled to keep up with the Batang Pier.
“I am going to be up all night trying to figure out if the commissioner will allow us to put six or seven players on the floor to defend,” Compton joked. “They out-rebounded us, they beat us to 50-50 balls, they shot well, we missed a ton of free throws. They had an excellent game plan and did it really well.”
The Aces entered Game 1 of the semi-finals series against Globalport holding the league’s second-best defensive rating at 95.4. Globalport however, fired 107 points on an offensive rating of 113.82. The Batang Pier shot 48 percent from the field, better than the Aces’ 42 percent, and had a 50-47 edge in rebounding. The Batang Pier also had more fastbreak points, 29-23, and turnover points, 16-10 than the Aces.
Alaska started out struggling, allowing Globalport to jump to a 24-6 cushion. And while the Aces kept knocking on the door, Globalport refused to crack and finished stronger.
Compton had high credit for the Batang Pier, even saying he felt relieved it was a long series instead of a do-or-die.
“Collectively, we were flat and they beat us,” he said. “Thank (goodness) we were not in that knockout game. If you came out flat and have a game like this then you’re done.”
Compton also talked about Terrence Romeo’s 41-point burst, a new career-high for the Batang Pier gunner. “Obviously, Terrence struggled,” Compton said in jest. “Apparently the defensive game plan was to get away from him and clap when he gets a shot,” he added, hinting at the Aces’ poor defense.
“We really should not take away anything from Globalport. I don’t know how many guys score 40 points in the playoffs or in a (playoff) game. Terrence did. He was fantastic. He has tremendous talent, and he works on his scoring ability.”
The Aces mentor said Alaska need to have more communication on the defensive end, as Romeo created too much trouble.
“Usually, a lot of times the feet are connected to the mouth. What I mean is you move your feet, you’re talking, you get to the right spot, you help each other out. I didn’t hear us today. I am disappointed in that,” Compton shared.
Globalport usually involve Romeo in pick-and-roll plays where he is the ball handler, and with Alaska switching on the pick-and-roll, a lot of rotating happens and the defense collapses.
“There were points in the third quarter he hit back to back to get his 30th point and both of them were wide open. I can’t figure out why the top scorer in the league was wide open,” he added. “That is definitely not the game plan. We have to be better defensively.”
