Control your fate

Going into the last four games of their elimination round schedule, Alaska coach Alex Compton is aware of one thing that’s going for his Aces.

“It’s in our hands,” Compton told the Inquirer after practice Tuesday, referring to a twice-to-beat privilege at least six teams are still chasing heading into the final three weeks of the PBA Governors’ Cup elimination round. “If we play really well, we have a good chance.

“And by really well, I mean going 3-1,” he went on. “If we struggle and go 1-3, we’re in trouble. Two-2 is going to be close.”

Alaska tries to get the first of those three wins at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay, where the Aces battle winless Columbian in a match which Compton sees as a test considering that Alaska is coming off a loss.

“Hopefully, we have the right attitude about it (game against the Dyip),” Compton said. The Aces will come into the game licking the wounds of a painful 83-73 loss to Magnolia, where they were held scoreless in the last two minutes and change.

“We’re fine,” Compton said of his Aces, who sport a 5-2 record. “We just got outplayed on Sunday (by the Hotshots). I don’t sense great amounts of depression (in my players).”

“We played a good team (in Magnolia) and got outplayed,” he said. “We need to bounce back.”

No doubt that the Dyip (0-8) are not as great a team as the Hotshots, but Compton knows that playing a team that has nothing to lose is as dangerous as playing a team that has everything to gain.

Meanwhile, NorthPort seeks to extend a two-game winning streak and continue to fan its wafer-thin playoff chances when it clashes with a Rain or Shine side that is coming off a big first win in the 7 p.m. contest.

At 2-6, it’s a miss-and-die situation for the Batang Pier, even as the Elasto Painters seek a follow-up to an upset win over league-leader Barangay Ginebra.