MANILA, Philippines—Alec Stockton reaffirmed his loyalty to Converge after the FiberXers’ conference opening loss at the hands of Terrafirma on Friday.
After the squad’s 107-99 loss in the PBA Philippine Cup at Araneta Coliseum, Stockton was seen with reigning Rookie of the Year Justin Arana on the way out of the Big Dome with their heads down.
Yet despite being down in the dumps, the third-year guard out of Far Eastern University denied rumors of him requesting a trade to get out of Converge.
SCHEDULE: 2024 PBA Philippine Cup
“For everybody, I’m here. I’m with Converge right now. I’m committed to where I’m at and I’m just doing my job,” told Stockton with Inquirer Sports.
“I’m here, I’m committed, I’m at Converge. That’s it.”
In the loss that put the FiberXers at a 0-1 card to begin the All-Filipino Conference, Stockton was a silver lining for coach Aldin Ayo with 18 points, three rebounds and three assists, missing only one of his eight shots from the field.
READ: PBA: Buoyed by coach’s trust, Alec Stockton delivers quality numbers for Converge
The defensive guard, though, said he “wasn’t satisfied” with the outcome despite his near-perfect shooting.
“I’m not satisfied, obviously. We all put in the work to make sure we win down the stretch. It’s alright but it’s not enough. We still wanted to come out and win the ball game. That’s what it is but I’m still trying to continue and improve my game individually to try to help the team get the W.”
Stockton is one of the cornerstones that stayed with Converge after a stretch full of departures.
Streaky shooter Maverick Ahanmisi jumped ship and joined Ginebra after a career season with the FiberXers. Mac Tallo was then given the boot by Converge last month for participating in an unsanctioned league.
Now, as a third-year skipper for the relatively young team, Stockton is taking it upon himself to lead the squad out of the gutters.
“In a way, I’m one of the older guys or the leaders. We want to make sure we win the ball game, that’s really what it comes down to. No matter what you do well individually, if you don’t get the W, you still don’t get the job done.”