Compton’s battling crew leaves Austria in a daze

MORE than taking a 1-0 lead in its PBA Philippine Cup title series against San Miguel Beer, the Alaska coaching staff can also take pride in the fact that it left its counterparts so dazed after the Aces’ 88-82 win on Wednesday.

San Miguel coach Leo Austria literally grappled for answers as to what went wrong after his Beermen blew a 22-point first-quarter lead and why his superstars were left to struggle all night.

June Mar Fajardo, the 6-foot-10 reigning MVP, was held to just 14 points. He was clearly taken out of his sweet spot in the stretch as Alaska bottled him up whenever he got a touch.

He also missed a free throw, which would have given the Beermen a one-point lead going into the final 8.8 seconds of regulation.

“I don’t know what happened to us,” Austria said, a statement that downplayed how outcoached he was by Alex Compton and his crew in the opener.

The loss so stunned Austria that he couldn’t even recall the biggest lead —22—they took in the game.

“We were ahead by 21 points and we couldn’t maintain it,” he said. “I don’t know what happened to us in the second and third quarters.”

Austria eventually blamed the defeat at the no-calls—and at a handful of his players as well.

“They had a terrific defense and they got away with many fouls,” Austria said in Filipino. “The bench of Alaska was also a factor and we committed 26 turnovers. How can you win a championship with 26 turnovers?”

Austria also said Alex Cabagnot played below expectations: “I was expecting Alex to do a lot better in the Finals. But he wasn’t able to do anything because of the solid defense of Alaska.”

Austria later on looked back at the free throw of Fajardo, who had a split off a Calvin Abueva foul that paved the way for the extra five minutes at 74-all.

“Maybe he was a little tired by then,” Austria said of Fajardo.

The plays designed for Fajardo were also well read by Alaska: He was only able to take nine attempts from the field.