Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Kia head coach Ricky Dandan’s went straight to the point when summed up the Picanto’s terrible 0-4 start in the PBA Philippine Cup.
“It’s very obvious we have a lot of weaknesses that we need to work on,” said Dandan Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum after losing to Alaska 102-65. “Nobody gets used to a beating like that.”
The Picanto have given up at least 100 points in all of their losses and have lost by an average of 27.75 points.
And although Alaska’s 102 points were the lowest scoring-game an opponent had against Kia, the Picanto’s 65 point-finish was the lowest Kia had.
“It was just overwhelming for them when we could not make our shots, we could not make stops,” said Dandan. “That was just very difficult, so I told the team that they just have to embrace the fact that we have a lot of weaknesses and that we need to strengthen those weaknesses if we are to win our first game.”
What contributed most to Kia’s horrible offensive output was Alaska’s pressure defense that started immediately on the inbounding player instead of the ball carrier.
Kia shot a dismal 32 percent from the field, 24-of-74, and turned the ball over 29 times.
Alaska also outrebounded Kia 62-44 and 20-10 in the offensive glass.
“Alaska will press you for 48 minutes, that’s the way they play defense, we were ready for that but we were just worn out,” said Dandan.
Kia was still trading blows with Alaska in the first half and ended the second quarter down by just five, 39-34, but ultimately succumbed to the pressure in the third period having outscored 36-5.
“There were portions of the game when they would play together, but when the opponent makes a move they unravel,” said Dandan. “When Alaska made a move in the third quarter our guys got frustrated and unraveled.”