Simon Enciso had been stellar in his second game back from minor knee surgery, finishing with 23 points to lead the Alaska Aces to a 104-78 victory over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Sunday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
But his last three points didn’t sit well with the Barangay.
Ginebra head coach Tim Cone expressed his disappointment with that shot when he refused to shake the hand of his Alaska counterpart Alex Compton — Cone was on his way at center court when Enciso sank the triple.
Compton said that he understands where Cone is coming from — the Grand Slam mentor has never liked the idea of shooting the ball when a game’s all but decided — but he defended their side by pointing out the quotient system.
“You guys remember the really bad year we had where we lost fourteen straight? Just hurts to bring it up. We started out four-and-zero. In one of those games, we were blowing GlobalPort out and I told the guys don’t shoot.
“There’s a quotient system and then we lost eight straight and we didn’t make the playoffs because we had a layup and I told them don’t take it. And we didn’t make the playoffs,” the seasoned bench strategist bitterly recalled.
“And that was my fault. We actually, literally lost because we didn’t make that play and we didn’t make the playoffs. So I understand coach Tim’s frustration. I don’t take it personally. I didn’t do anything personal,” Compton added.
Enciso, meanwhile, said that he simply followed the instruction given to him by the coaches to shoot even if the game had been done. But, like his head coach, he also understands where the opposition is coming from.
And he’s also taken the high road by apologizing to all who got offended.
“I understand it from both ways. They’re yelling quotient on my end — I guess Alaska didn’t make it to the playoffs one time off just one point so coach Alex wanted me to shoot and unfortunately it went in,” said the gunslinging guard.
“But also see it on the Ginebra side. We’re up by thirty, why score again? So I see it from both sides. Like I said I just wanna apologize from the bottom of my heart, I didn’t mean it. I’m just abiding to what my coaches are telling me.”
