LOOKING FOR RELIEF
The Alaska Aces could have been in the upper half of the chart, and not in the lower part of it, if not for Dondon Hontiveros’ boo-boo at the endgame of their match against the Meralco Bolts Sunday.
Now comes the hard part.
Alaska takes on Rain or Shine Wednesday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig to start a tough closing grind that will determine the Aces’ playoffs fate in the PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup.
After the E-Painters, next up for the Aces in their “killer stretch” are the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers (Friday) and then the Barangay Ginebra Kings (June 13).
Alaska closes out its elims campaign versus Barako Bull on June 15.
In the bizarre ending of the Alaska – Meralco game, the Aces gained a shot at stealing the game on a crucial error by Gary David in the last eight seconds.
Henry Walker set up Hontiveros for a shot from the left flank. Hontiveros, however, opted to attack the lane only to kick the ball back to Walker with no more time to make a shot.
The Bolts preserved an 88-87 win, and the Aces dropped below the .500 mark with a 2-3 win-loss slate.
Rain or Shine sports the same card but sets out for the game riding the momentum of a 96-93 win over Barako Bull on Saturday.
“We can’t be ambitious,” said RoS coach Yeng Guiao, realistic of what they can do and can’t with their injury-hit lineup.
“If we can be at the .500 mark, then we can be a little bit more optimistic then see how the teams are in the standings and try to win every game after that,” Guiao pointed out.
“Ngayon nag-i-struggle pa rin kami. We haven’t reached our peak performance. Pahirapan talaga every game sa amin,” Guiao added.
It’s more disappointing for the Aces as they’ve been struggling with a solid import in Walker and without a major health problem to any player.
Both the Aces and the E-Painters look for some relief in their Wednesday setto. (SB)
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