For TNT consultant Mark Dickel, the KaTropa were simply unable to react to the Alaska Aces on Sunday.
The Kiwi coach said as much after the Milkmen blew out the Texters by a whopping 36 points, 72-108. The same loss also blew their twice-to-beat edge in their 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal clash.
“I just think they played well, and we didn’t react well to it,” Dickel said after the match at SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Aces played as if they hadn’t come off a tiring playoff win over Meralco just two nights ago. Despite the short break, Alaska played excellent defense, as they limited the KaTropa to just a 29-percent shooting clip.
Moreover, the Aces dominated the boards, hauling down a total of 73 rebounds while the KaTropa only had 47.
Ultimately, import Terrence Jones was far from his dominant form. From averaging 33.7 points, 16.1 rebounds, and 7.7 assists in the eliminations, he only had 19 points, six boards, and two dimes, and committed seven errors.
“They out-hustled us, out-rebounded us, outworked us,” Dickel lamented. “They were just more ready to play and ultimately when that happens, you’re gonna be in trouble. It kinda felt like whatever could go wrong went wrong.
“And they really played hard and played better, so they deserved to win.”
The loss is a bitter pill to swallow, as TNT had a league-best eight-game winning streak before entering the quarterfinals. Now, Dickel and the Texters are raring to go on Wednesday to redeem themselves.
“I think for us, [we can’t assume that] we [will] get our longest winning streak and just assume that if we come out and play, it’s gonna go our way, and basketball’s just not like that,” he said.
“And they really jumped out on us. We’re gonna return the favor on Wednesday.”
