“It’s a tough conference, no doubt.”
From a promising 4-0 start that even saw them place in the upper echelon of the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup, the Alaska Aces, all of a sudden, have become one huge disappointment and an image of futility in the league.
After Saturday’s 109-97 loss to the San Miguel Beermen, the Aces have suffered their sixth straight defeat.
But head coach Alex Compton felt right from the start that a turnaround might take place after their hot start. And indeed, it happened, hurting their chances of even making it to the conference playoffs.
“I wasn’t really comfortable with how we’re playing to start the conference. We won four games, but from the very first game, I said ‘guys, we’re not playing right. We have to get sharper in these areas,” stressed Compton.
“You know, they’re good guys. It’s not an issue of hardheadedness — there are just things we need to work on.”
However, despite reasons behind the sudden downfall, the 43-year-old mentor remained firm, that there are no excuses with this current struggles of theirs.
“There’s a lot of factors, but I wouldn’t say that because there’s no excuses. I don’t believe in excuses. People perceive stuff, but I’m not making any excuses,” iterated the American tactician.
“We need to win.”
After Saturday, the Aces are now 4-6 in the team standings tied with Globalport. And similar to the Batang Pier, Alaska’s wishes in making it into the playoffs are not within their hands anymore, but in the other teams.
“Sometimes, a glimmer of hope is what you need. Sometimes, good fortune comes from strange packages, from strange people,” said the one-time champion coach of their playoff destiny.
But before fully wishing for things to favor their side, Alaska has one more assignment on Wednesday, May 31 — facing a top team in Star Hotshots. And for that match, Compton hopes nothing but rhythm to be able to pluck the W.
“Let’s hope that we could get rhythm. It’s been really tough because we’re in and out with different guys, and it’s been hard to establish a rhythm. So hopefully we could find a little bit of a rhythm on Wednesday,” said Compton.
