Injury bug won’t slow down Alaska’s early success
PRIOR to the start of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Alaska presented a banged up squad, missing key players like Vic Manuel, JVee Casio, Dondon Hontiveros and Noy Baclao.
Add Chris Banchero as among those banged up players as he re-injured his wrist.
No problem for the Aces as import Cory Jefferson, Calvin Abueva and the rest of the squad were able to pick up the slack to win their first two games and a share of the lead with the Meralco Bolts.
On Wednesday night, the Aces blasted the Blackwater Elite, 109-95, with the NBA veteran Jefferson finishing with 28 points and 15 rebounds, but it was the production from the support cast led by Carl Bryan Cruz and Ping Exciminiano, which spelled to be the big difference in the team’s latest victory.
Mr. Cruz finished with 15 points to step up for the absence of Mr. Manuel while Mr. Exciminiano, filling the void left by Mr. Casio, added 13, but continuously showed his usual tenacity on the defensive end.
“Ping was the big story of the game. He showed why he’s one of those voted for the All-Defensive Team. He’s everywhere. He’s great at the ball. We had some real rotation issues. It wasn’t championship level enough. It’s not the playoffs, but we’ve got to get better,” Alaska coach Alex Compton told BusinessWorld in an interview.
Mr. Compton believes, though, that the Aces’ continuous success will highly depend on their import.
“I like him. He’s coachable and he’s a great guy. He works hard, he’s a team player. I think he has some toughness. I just want to see him keep growing in this role. It’s different being in and out in the NBA, what those guys to show to get a job there and be an import here,” said Mr. Compton.
Although he’s pleased with the energy and effort they’ve provided, Mr. Compton believes they need to get sharper to push their chances of making another playoff run.
“I told the players there’s one thing that really made me mad during the game and I went over and talked to the bench about it. I just told them one of the things I love about you guys is you always play hard. But playing hard doesn’t always wins you championships. You have to play hard for some precision, sharpness and we haven’t been sharp as we need to be. Blind effort won’t get you where you want to go. Sharpening that what’s really important for us,” said Mr. Compton.
“I’m comfortable with the effort level, but sometimes I felt we were trying to chop down an oak tree with a sledge hammer. I’d rather be wise about it to save us a lot of effort, a lot of heartache.” —