Antonio Campbell wasn’t in the mood to talk much on Sunday night after he and the Alaska Aces were crushed to pieces by Justin Brownlee and the surging Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 86-105.
After being the hottest team in the league with a seven-game winning streak, the Aces have now lost their second straight game after the beatdown they got from Ginebra.
Even worse is the fact that the Milkmen have lost an average of 17 points in their slump. Moreover, Alaska have shot 37.8 percent from the field across the two losses.
“We played too nonchalant. That’s all I could say,” rued Campbell, whose team even trailed Ginebra by as much as 33, 85-52, late third.
“We played comfortable, and they came out and played good.”
Even Campbell himself had a frustrating outing.
A reinforcement who usually drops over 22 points and nearly 15 rebounds per contest, Campbell was a marked man and was limited to just six points on nine shots, along with eight rebounds.
“I played a little careless. Not my best game,” said the 23-year-old, who also had three turnovers and three fouls in the 22:08 minutes he played. “But I can’t let it carry over to the next.”
At 7-3, the Aces’ positioning for the playoffs hasn’t turned bad. And they still have a crack at a twice-to-beat edge for the quarterfinals as long as they finish the eliminations with an 8-3 card.
Which is why their final game of the round against the Phoenix Fuel Masters on July 6 is a must-win, said Campbell.
“We must win our next game. We gotta win our next game,” iterated the 6-foot-9 forward out of the Ohio Bobcats basketball program.
“We can’t play the way we played today.”
