Compton rues Alaska’s lack of discipline, says TNT deserved to win

Alaska coach Alex Compton didn’t mince his words after TNT cut the Aces’ three-game winning run with a 109-100 humbling on Friday.

“They clearly outplayed us,” he said. “They made a bunch of shots, played well, obviously Troy (Rosario) and Larry (Fonacier) combining 10-of-16 from three was big.”

The KaTropa came out firing on all cylinders, going 14-of-31 from beyond the arc. Rosario shot 6-of-9 from three en route to his 25 point-game, while Fonacier buried four triples to wound up with 16 markers.

Compton cited as a “lack of discipline” from his players as Alaska missed a chance to get a share of the second spot and dropped to an eighth place tie with Phoenix.

“I didn’t like our discipline. I think at times, we like to play hard but when we gamble too much or try to make our own run plays too much, that sets us up for failure against a talented team. We also shot terrible from the free throw line,” he said, as the Aces shot 20-of-35 from the charity stripe.

Compton resigned: “They deserved the win.”

Still, the coach said that the defeat would not dampen the Aces’ holiday break as they carry an even 3-3 slate.

So far, Compton is happy with the grit Alaska is showing this 2017 PBA Philippine Cup despite not having a legitimate center with Sonny Thoss and Nonoy Baclao still at the injury list.

“The effort has been there. We need to continue being a little bit more disciplined,” he said. “I don’t know when Noy and Sonny are coming back, so we have to continue playing small ball. I love watching JP Mendoza, (Kevin) Racal, (Tony) Dela Cruz, guys that are lifetime threes mixing it up with the big guys. That’s we really have to do so I’m proud of the guys in terms of their effort.”

Compton ended: “We need to find ways to cover up our shortcomings. Don’t you guys think they are playing hard? I mean, we are scrappy. We just got beaten by one of the two best teams in the league in TNT.”
Alaska will take an extended break before springing back to action on January 11 next year against Star.