NEW SYSTEM WORKING WONDERS FOR ACES
Despite his hot 5-of-9 shooting from three-point land in their game against NLEX, Dondon Hontiveros shunned the credit and said that a part of Alaska’s success this season is because of Calvin Abueva’s infectious energy.
“Yung energy ni Calvin, dun nakadepende yung team,” the Cebuano Hotshot said.
Alaska battled back from being down by 15 in the third and eked out a 90-84 victory over the Road Warriors for their eighth Philippine Cup win.
“Nafrustrate kami at the start of the second half kasi akala namin pagod na sila, pero pumapasok pa rin yung tira nila at mas mataas yung energy nila. Maganda naman yung ginawa ng second group nung third, so na-carry over sa fourth, and pagbalik ni Calvin, nag-ruboff sa amin,” Hontiveros said.
The 37-year-old gunner also said that Alaska’s free-wheeling offense has helped their team a lot in its run this Philippine Cup, saying they aren’t really focusing on one point of the offense for their whole system to function.
“Yung offense namin, kahit sino naman pwede magcontribute. We’re not really looking for anybody everytime. Binabasa namin kung sino yung open sa setup at dun lang namin ineexecute. Natapat lang na maganda yung laro ko and masaya ako na nakatulong din sa team,” Hontiveros said, as he finished with 21 points to lead Alaska in the victory.
The system has also allowed Abueva to run loose and maximize his skills, which created a domino effect on the rest of the Aces.
“Nakikita namin si Calvin, yun ang laro nya nung college. He can dominate with the ball, especially off the ball. And sa hustle nya, makakakuha talaga sya ng offensive rebounds. Minsan wala kaming plays para sa kanya, pero dahil sa hustle, nakakascore sya,” said Hontiveros. “And for the other guys, the slower guys, nabibigyan kami ng chance makacontribute sa offense.”
As Alaska closes in on one of the automatic semifinal berths, Hontiveros said that they still haven’t reached their full potential as a team. But he hopes that their last two games can set the tone for a great finish to their eliminations run.
“We just have to play better this coming two games,” he said. (RL)
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