A VICTORY over multi-titled Korean professional team Jeonju KCC Egis hardly impressed Alaska coach Alex Compton.
The Aces shook off the rust of a long layoff and whipped the visiting South Koreans, 94-89, during their preseason match on Saturday at the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong City.
Compton said the game against KCC gave the Aces an opportunity to work both on their offense and defense just days after concluding their training camp with Australian coach Rob Beveridge.
“We’re doing some new stuff so it’s gonna take a while for us to adjust,” Compton told Spin.ph over the weekend. “They call it practice games for a reason and for us, I’m glad to know that (game against KCC) is far from our best.”
The long offseason gives the 40-year-old coach an opportunity to tweak the Aces’ system, considering he was thrust into the coaching post three games into the Governors Cup last season.
Compton took over from Luigi Trillo, who was fired early in the tournament.
“We still have so much stuff to put in our offense and defense, some basic stuff that we’re trying to make before the start of the new season,” he added.
Jeonju, the 2011 champion in the Korean Basketball League (KBL), flaunted its outside shooting, something Korean teams are known for.
“We had some breakdown during the game, because we know the Korean team shoots very well from the outside so we can’t really be a jack of all trade,” Compton said.
“But it’s not a bad start for us. We just have to clean up some things on what we do.”
Alaska placed fourth in Compton’s first conference as head coach, falling just a win short of advancing to the Finals of the season-ending meet after bowing to Rain or Shine, 3-2, in their semifinal series.
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