ACES BRACE FOR E-PAINTERS’ FIGHTBACK
THERE’S little cause to be alarmed in the opener of a best-of-seven series.
Falling into a deeper hole, however, is another matter and that is precisely what Rain or Shine would be trying to avoid when it tangles with Alaska anew Saturday in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal duel at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Aces came from behind to take Game 1, 87-80, last Thursday and coach Alex Compton is bracing his team for the expected fightback of the Elasto Painters.
“We expect Rain or Shine to be better, so we must be better. They know how to win and they are used to these situations,” said Compton, who is bidding to steer the Uytengsu franchise to the Finals in only his second conference at the helm.
“If we want to be successful in this series we cannot be happy about one win. We must get better every game if we want to beat them,” stressed Compton.
The loss stopped Rain or Shine’s conference-best seven-game winning streak, but coach Yeng Guiao merely shrugged it off.
“Sabi ko nga, at some point mauubos yung buwenas mo sa Alaska,” said the grizzled tactician whose team stole their best-of-five semifinals series in the last season-ending Governors over the same Aces crew.
“Law of averages na rin siguro,” said Guiao. “But at the same time it comes with a feeling na we’ll be okay.”
The E-Painters would indeed be better off if they can come out strong and finish better, thus avoiding the pitfalls of a blown 17-point lead and 19 turnovers which resulted into 23 points for Alaska in the opener.
For a team that also thrives on three-point shooting, the E-Painters must also do much better than their 5-for-20 clip in Game 1.
And then there’s the bigger question of how Paul Lee fares this time around after a very quiet seven points, on 3-for-13 field shooting, last Thursday.
Alaska already has a player who stepped up big time in Sonny Thoss as he came up with a personal conference-high 16 points to go with nine rebounds, helping the Aces come back from a 17-34 deficit.
With Jayvee Casio also netting 16 markers, Calvin Abueva notching 14 points and as many rebounds and RJ Jazul coming off the bench for 12 points, Compton has ample reason to believe his main charges are all fired up and confident to go on and upend their former tormentors.
“For me, the fact that we got down and our guys kept fighting and kept bringing the energy to come back for this first win gives us the knowledge that we can do that. It means we can beat them,” said Compton.
There was indeed some time to celebrate for Alaska, but that’s done and over with.
“We want to keep our focus. It’s nice to win, but you’ve got to get the four,” reiterated Compton. (NC)
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