Alex Compton was in a different mood when he started his post-game press talk Wednesday night, after Alaska had dropped Game 5 to San Miguel, 86-73, in overtime.
Compton did not issue any direct statement but asked rhetorically if anything had stood out in the stat sheets for the particular game.
He then mentioned the free throw and fouls drawn numbers. Alaska shot only 3-for-5 from the line in Game 5, while San Miguel made 23 of 35 attempts.
The Aces drew only 17 fouls too, compared to 36 for the Beermen.
“(You) think that has an impact on the game don’t you? I am just pointing out facts, I don’t have anything to say like that,” Compton said.
“I will go back to if a team gets consistently 30 more free throws than you do and gets 20 more foul calls, it’s going to be difficult. It’s a big discrepancy. It’s going to be difficult to win.”
June Mar Fajardo’s return helped, as he had drawn 10 free throw attempts. He made 5, and finished with 13 points overall in 16:28 of play.
Alex Cabagnot had the next-highest number of free throw attempts, nailing 5-for-8.
The Aces on the other end, had 5 foul shots as an entire team. Perhaps it had something to do with a lack of aggressiveness.
Chris Banchero, RJ Jazul, Dondon Hontiveros, and Cyrus Baguio, the usual Aces guards who attack the basket, all had no attempts from the line. Baguio and Hontiveros were a paltry 2-for-17 combined and had 5 points as a duo.
The Aces also shot just 32% from the floor, compared to the Beermen’s 41%.
While Compton did not emphasize the team’s game plan, such an approach might be a wake-up call for the Aces to come out more aggressively in the Game 6 and to execute even better.
