Calvin Abueva missed his fifth straight game for Alaska due to a team-imposed suspension, Sunday evening.
Though it would have been easy for coach Alex Compton to use that as an excuse for the embarrassing 86-105 loss they suffered against Ginebra, he did not. Instead, he tried to hide his frustrations with the lack of effort the Aces showed in the game by giving the reporters on hand an analogy.
“You guys got an editor, right? You got other co-reporters with you in the organization you work for? If one of your buddy reporters go down, should you not do your job well? If one of your buddy reporters can’t work, is that a reason for you to not do your job well? Is that a reason for you to maybe not work harder?
“That’s how I feel. So, I don’t take excuses for anybody. We have guys that wear the Alaska jersey, practice every day. I don’t care who’s putting it on, you better honor it, and I don’t think we honored it,” he lamented.
Compared to their 74-89 loss to Meralco seven days ago, the Aces did not show any heart in the contest. By halftime, the game was practically over, as Ginebra had imposed a 63-58 lead. It then ballooned to as high as 33 points, 85-52 early in the final frame.
Alaska were outworked on all fronts, as the victors held a 64-46 rebounding edge, went to the foul stripe 32 times, and had 10 steals in the game.
The sole bright spot was the will showed by Alaska’s third-stringers – namely Davon Potts, Jake Pascual, Abel Galliguez, Marion Magat, and Noy Baclao.
“I thought the group that played in the end played hard. I told them I was proud of them. They honored the game. They came in to a 30-point game, played hard, diving on the floor, working,” Compton pointed out.
“They played the way Alaska plays.”
Alaska will have a 12-day break before they return to the hardcourt. By then, Compton hopes that his players come out playing like they did to start the conference.
