Compton rues "dumb plays" leading to Alaska's second half meltdown

A miscommunication between Kevin Racal and Simon Enciso was among the costly errors that spelled doom for Alaska. PBA Media Bureau

By Ivan Saldajeno

BATANGAS CITY--Alaska seemed poised to handing San Miguel a bad beat on the road and make the race for the top two seeds in the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals a more dramatic one by halftime of their showdown at the Batangas City Sports Center on Saturday night.

But the Aces could not finish the Beermen off, and the latter turned a 15-point deficit late into the first half into a 13-point win by fulltime.

[Related Story: SMB rolls in second half to stop Alaska in crucial clash]

"I thought we made a bunch of dumb plays," Compton told Dugout Philippines after the game.

Alaska shot a shade above 40 percent from the field in the first half, assisting in 15 of its 19 made shots, but the team only made 33 percent of its field goals in the second half, sliding to a measly 37 percent clip in the end.

"We threw the ball away, and there were times that we completely missed our rotation in the plays and transition," continued Compton, whose team, despite dishing 27 dimes in totals, also committed 18 errors, nine in each half.

He further rued, "There were several times too where they go on a little run and we didn't settle down and get into what we want to do. Parang natataranta kami. And that was the big part of the game."

However, he insisted that the stakes in the ballgame, that is, their chance of getting the twice-to-beat advantage in the next round getting a huge boost, has nothing to do with their second half implosion.

"We didn't talk about it once," Compton continued.

He added that the Aces will use the loss as a lesson for them as their grind to the title continues.

"We want to keep getting better, learn, and take lessons from each game," Compton further said.

He then reiterated, "Our goal is always, at the end of the conference, to be champions, not to be number one at the end of the eliminations."

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