After five long months of sorrow and 14 straight defeats, the Alaska Aces have finally solved the soul-wrecking curse.
The Milkmen have now won back-to-back games after thumping the Globalport Batang Pier, 101-88, Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena. And for two games, everyone from the coaches to the players to the fans have been beaming with pride once more.
And nobody is more elated than head coach Alex Compton.
“It’s nice to have some of these breaks in the past two games — we didn’t feel like a lot of the bounces went our way in the past five months,” said the outspoken Compton after their win over the Batang Pier. “[But] We’ll take them.
“I was really happy to see this guys just put together another win.”
What stood out for Compton in this mini-run of theirs was the way his wards showed toughness when needed — something that he did not see during their historic slump, which traced back from the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup.
“The thing I like about the last two games is hindi malayo sa mga game namin dun sa 14-game losing streak — in the sense na lamang kami, humabol ang kalaban, lumamang na ang kalaban, pero imbis na nag-fold kami, nag-bounce back kami,” said the American mentor.
“That’s what I’ve been waiting to see.”
During their skid, many believed that Alaska’s system might be the reason, that it might have been deciphered. But the 43-year-old does not buy into that idea, saying that the slump had been prolonged because of the team’s frustrations.
“Most of the time it hasn’t been tactical issues, it’s just been bounces or frustration or things that build up,” said Compton.
“When it rains, it pours and it was pouring in a bad way for us, bahang baha pa ang bahay namin.”
But now the Aces are on a roll, with their quarterfinal hopes still alive. However, Compton does not want to get too caught up in it, as they still have three games left before the 2017 Governor’s Cup eliminations end.
“We still have a long way to go and we have to play right away on Sunday,” Compton remarked regarding their game against the still-winless Kia Picanto this Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
