ALASKA’s first semifinal stint in two years may have come to an abrupt end Sunday night, but the effort of the Aces in what their head coach termed as the ‘single, craziest conference he ever had,’ earned a lot of praise.
Ever vocal, Alex Compton commended his players for fighting through adversity especially when ranged against the mighty San Miguel Beermen, who slammed the finals door on the Aces following a 104-99 win in Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Aces had to endure the loss of star player Calvin Abueva and later on Chris Banchero, the temporary absence of rookie Jeron Teng, and having a new import in Diamon Simpson just before the playoffs to achieve their best finish yet since barging into the finals of this same import-laden tournament in 2016.
And despite the obvious edge in manpower by the reigning champion Beermen, the Aces did their best to give them a run for their money in the best-of-five semis, which they eventually lost, 3-1.
“I’m extremely disappointed for my guys with the incredible effort that they showed,” said Compton afterwards.
“And all the adversities that we went through, they didn’t make excuses, they kept on fighting which is what we want,” he added. “And as a coach and leader of this team, I would like to see that kind of resolve rewarded.”
Unfortunately, the Beermen had other things in their mind as they finished off the Aces behind the solid endgame plays of Alex Cabagnot, who scored half of his 18 points in the payoff period.
Compton isn’t making any excuses but hopes the fight the Aces showed should be more than enough to inspire other ‘underdogs.'
“I want to see those people inspired by the little guy having a fair chance,” he stressed. “I think our greatest responsibility as Alaska, as an independent, is to play as hard as we can and try to inspire the little guys. Yung mga taong ang feeling nila nawawala yung pagasa nila, tatayo pa rin kami.
“Minsan hindi mo na alam kung saan galing yung suntok. Minsan yung suntok feeling mo galing sa labas ng ring, pero kailangan tumayo ulit, kailangan lumaban ulit.”
That’s what the Aces exemplified against the Beermen despite failing at times, to get a fair share of the calls from the officials.
“There are certain things that no matter how hard you play or how well you play, you cannot overcome. And I would leave it at that,” said Compton. “And I think everybody who watched would say the same thing. It’s really disappointing especially if you have a great group of guys who play so hard and just put themselves out there.”
Given another chance to be in this same situation, the Alaska coach would like to be with this same group of fighting warriors.
“People expected our guys to quit already in Game 3 and we didn’t, people expected us to quit when San Miguel threw a big punch in Game 4 and we didn’t. I’ll go to war with my guys,” said Compton.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
