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After suffering a 17-point meltdown on Sunday, Alaska is hoping to pick up the pieces when it fights Ginebra anew on Tuesday.
Aces head coach Alex Compton said that rather than being down following a 85-81 loss to the Gin Kings, the Aces must learn their lessons from the collapse as they eye a spot in the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.
“We had about 30 minutes of good basketball in our part, somewhere about eight to 10 solid minutes, and about eight to 10 terrible minutes, and we really cost us our game in those eight to 10 terrible minutes,” he said. “We’ll look at all those breakdowns. We have to find a way to be better and not have those long bad stretches.”
Holding a 50-33 advantage, Alaska all of a sudden lost grip of the lead and succumbed to the pressure of the Gin Kings. Ginebra would the unleash a furious 25-1 rally to take the 62-54 advantage at the end of the period.
Compton doesn’t think his wards relaxed one bit, but rather, praised the defensive scheme coach Tim Cone employed in that third frame.
“I think they pressured us a little bit, they got some stops, and got off and running. I didn’t feel like anybody thought it was over. We turned it over, we fought back, but we went from up double digits to down eight,” he said.
But the game is over now, and Compton’s eyes are firmly wrested on Tuesday’s tiff, with him giving his full trust in his crew as Alaska plays Ginebra once more with a spot in the semifinals hanging in the balance.
“We’re tough and resilient. We don’t stop. We went through a really bad spell, but we kept on fighting. We had to bring some energy and play our hardest. Hopefully, we’ll have a better result,” he said.
“They won with their backs against the wall. Now both of our backs are against the wall. While I’d say I hope it’s an exciting game, I hope we win comfortably. But that’s not my prediction. I think it’s going to be a tough, hard fought game.”