MANILA – Alaska head coach Alex Compton maintains that he was simply trying to play by the league rules when he encouraged Simon Enciso to take a three-pointer at the end of their blowout win over Ginebra on Sunday night.

The Aces already had the game in hand, 101-78, when Enciso put up a triple to beat the buzzer and peg the final score at 104-78.

Ginebra head coach Tim Cone was very clearly displeased with what happened, and walked away from Compton instead of shaking his hand.

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Video courtesy of ESPN5.

Compton chased Cone in an effort to explain that he had the quotient system in mind when he told his player to take the last- second shot.

"When teams score on us at the buzzer when we're getting killed, which does happen, I don't take it, I'm not offended. I would have been offended probably 3, 4 years ago," Compton would explain after the game.

"But the league has set up the quotient system in a way that if we don't make that play, and I don't, and we didn't make the playoffs again by one point," he added.

• READ: Enciso sorry for late 3 that chased quotient for Aces

Compton still remembers their brutal stretch in 2017, when the Aces lost 14 consecutive games – a franchise record. He points out that they actually won four straight contests to open the Commissioner's Cup then, kicked off by a 107-79 demolition of GlobalPort.

"We started out 4-0. In one of those games, we were blowing GlobalPort out, and I told the guys, don't shoot. And there's a quotient system, and we lost 8 straight, and we didn't make the playoffs," he said.

"Because we had a lay-up and I told them don't take it, and we didn't make the playoffs. And that was my fault. We actually literally lost because we didn't make that play and we didn't make the playoffs," he stressed.

For Compton, he simply doesn't want to take the risk of Alaska missing the playoffs once again.

"If we get into a situation where we're tied, who knows? If they get a bunch of injuries, we get a bunch of injuries, we both collapse down to 8th again, I don't wanna miss the playoffs because I honored a tradition that nobody else in the league honors," said Compton.

The Alaska coach made it clear that he has nothing but respect for Cone, and understands that Cone "hates the rule."

"He hates it," said Compton. "(But) I was like, 'Coach, I missed the playoffs because I didn't make that play.'"

"Some of the other guys were saying, 'We understand.' I really understand, as coaches. If the league were to change that rule, I would be mad at my player for taking that shot, because we don't dishonor the game," he added.

But with the quotient system in place, Compton is not taking any chances.

"I don't take it personally," Compton said of Cone's decision to walk away from their handshake. "My heart's like, I did the right thing by my team, I tried to honor the other coach, I still honor him."

"Ask me anything about him, you won't hear a bad word from me about Tim Cone. You'll hear nothing but admiration."

Alaska improved to 3-2 with their win over Ginebra, which currently puts them in third place in the league standings.

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