Weary Alab to dig deep against KL Dragons

San Miguel Alab Pilipinas hardly had time to savor another gutsy win over one of the Asean Basketball League’s (ABL) hottest teams last Sunday night at Santa Rosa Multi Purpose Complex.

“These guys literally just have to go home, grab a meal, and then we’ll run off to the airport for our flight to KL (Kuala Lumpur),” said coach Jimmy Alapag after Alab outlasted the Singapore Slingers, 86-77, in overtime to improve its record to 8-4 for second spot.

“We’re going have to try to find a way to muster enough energy. But again, with our depth, we have guys who are ready to go.”

Alab is in the middle of the challenging grind in the ABL season where teams hop from one country to another in a matter of days. For Alab, it will be its fifth game in 12 days. The Filipino ball club played two of those games at home, squeezed in between matches in Hong Kong and Thailand.

Still, Alapag said the stretch of home and away matches will serve his team well come playoff time in April.

“This is great preparation for our guys going forward,” Alapag said. “But we will need everybody on Tuesday night.”

It will be the first meeting between the Kuala Lumpur Dragons and Alab this season. KL has failed to make the playoffs in the last three seasons, but the Dragons are off to a solid start with former Formosa import Will Artino leading the charge.

Alapag, however, is focused on how his team can shake off its inconsistent ways that was evident against Singapore, which fought back from 16 points down to force overtime. INQ