Fans filling up the Alonte Sports Arena 45 minutes before tip-off. |
By Ivan Saldajeno
BIÑAN--Considering the distance of the Alonte Sports Arena and even the entire city hall complex from the city proper, how to get there, the fact that a Ginebra game was ongoing, and how the crowd attendance of the other Philippine ABL teams' home games went, probably a few thought the said venue would be jam-packed for the Alab-Singapore game on Sunday night.
That, however, was exactly what happened when a good-sized crowd welcomed the two protagonists.
Coach Mac Cuan told some sportswriters after the game how Alab felt after dropping its debut in front of one of its homecourts.
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"They feel bad losing the game because of the way the crowd cheered. Talagang nahihiya sila. They really came out to support us," the former La Salle and Sta. Lucia player said.
In fact, the players wanted to pin the blame on themselves for the loss.
"I told them, 'If you come out of this dugout and somebody asks you, "Why did you lose?" tell them, "It's the coach's fault."' But they didn't want [to do it]. They said, 'Coach, this is all our fault,'" Cuan bared.
Despite the loss, Cuan lauded his players for giving Singapore a tough fight despite the lack of cohesion probably factored by lack of time building up for the match.
"Kahit one week lang ang preparation namin, I was happy with how we played," he continued.
As Alab's nationwide home tour continues, the team, as how they told Cuan, vowed, "The next time we play here, we're gonna make it up for them."
Alab will be in Baliwag next Sunday to take on Kaohsiung, while the team returns to Alonte on Jan. 13 to once again face Singapore.
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