FROM a team which finds it difficult to close out close games to one which find ways to win when the game is on the line. The Alaska Aces have become that kind of squad this conference, winning down-to-the-wire matches in their last assignments in the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
The Aces, for instance, beat the San Miguel Beermen by two, 96-94, the second of two close matches, where the team prevailed, much to coach Tim Cone’s satisfaction.
That win spurred Cone to hope that the Aces are slowly learning how to play solid basketball during crunchtime.
‘’At this point, in our down the stretch game, we still make some fundamental defensive errors like not getting back on defense quickly and some other fundamental things. That’s what we’re trying to correct this conference---playing the last three, four, five minutes of a game and close them out with good fundamentals,’’ said Cone.
‘’We’re still working on it and we’re still on the whiteboard stage, so we’re continuing to progress and hopefully we’ll get better as we go along.’’
The Aces are currently in the middle of a tough stretch against the league’s five marquee teams, Ginebra, Smart Gilas, San Miguel Beer, B-MEG Derby Ace and Talk ‘N Text, and they have so far done a good job of emerging on top of the rubble in two of three close matches.
‘’We got Ginebra by two, we got San Miguel by two and we lost to Gilas in overtime, you can’t ask for more than that so far. We talk about this stretch of tough teams and so far we’re 2-1 and that’s not a bad record against these five teams lined-up, we’ll take that at this point,” Cone said.
Alaska, carrying a 3-1 card, is presently at solo second behind league leaders Rain or Shine and Smart-Gilas, which have identical 3-0 marks, and is in a good position to make the cut (Top 6).
But Cone expects more tough grind ahead since all the games are must-wins in a short tournament such as the Commissioner’s Cup.
‘’With a short format, where every game matters, I expect all the games to be tight. I just hope we can come out (on top) in our next games. We won by two, we lost by two and we won by two the last three games, and I expect it to be like that in our next games as well.’
Jeric Lopez, Manila Standard Today
