Push Admin

PBA: After 'painful' end to long season, Alaska readies for 2019 with little prep time

Article (news)

Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/tvpatrol/12/19/20181221-alex-compton.jpg"/><figcaption>The 2019 season starts in less than a month, and Alaska head coach Alex Compton acknowledged preparing for it will be a challenge for his &quot;banged-up&quot; team. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines -- Still heartbroken after losing to Magnolia in the PBA Governors&#x27; Cup finals, Alaska head coach Alex Compton is already worrying about the Aces&#x27; preparations for the upcoming Philippine Cup in January.The Aces lost to the Hotshots in six games, with Magnolia coming away with a 102-86 rout in Game 6 last Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. The result dropped Compton to 0-5 in championship series appearances since he took over as Alaska&#x27;s head coach.&quot;I feel sick to my stomach,&quot; Compton said of the defeat. &quot;You know, the bottom line is -- if you don&#x27;t win the championship in the PBA, you lost.&quot;So it&#x27;s all of us, we lost in the finals. Eleven teams lost to Magnolia, we lost in the finals. That&#x27;s how it works,&quot; he added.There was no bitterness for Compton. All throughout the finals, he had acknowledged that Magnolia was the team that was playing the best basketball in the PBA, and the Hotshots proved him right with a masterful performance in Game 6.&quot;We didn&#x27;t deserve it. We got beat,&quot; Compton said.&quot;Congratulations to Magnolia. They did a great job. And I wasn&#x27;t kidding when I said they&#x27;ve been playing the best basketball in the conference. They really have. Chito (Victolero) and his whole staff have done such a good job, such a good job.&quot;Compton said he is proud of Alaska&#x27;s progression throughout the season. The Aces made the quarterfinals in the Philippine Cup, then the semifinals in the Commissioner&#x27;s Cup. In the Governors&#x27; Cup, the presence of Best Import Mike Harris got them over the hump and in the finals. Unfortunately, they fell short of the title.To have come so close only to crash at the final hurdle makes the defeat all the more painful for Compton.&quot;I think what&#x27;s particularly painful about the finals loss is that you&#x27;re there. It&#x27;s that you&#x27;re there. It&#x27;s always frustrating,&quot; said the coach.&quot;I mean, if you ask me, would you rather go to the finals and lose, or go through the 14-game losing streak, and not make the playoffs, I&#x27;d rather be in the finals,&quot; he added, referring to their brutal skid last season that saw Alaska drop to the bottom of the standings.&quot;But when you&#x27;re there, when you&#x27;re a blocked shot, loose ball away from winning Game 5, when you&#x27;re there, everything just feels... it&#x27;s more painful in a sense,&quot; Compton said.Game 5 proved to be the turning point of the series. Alaska led 78-77 in the dying seconds, only for Paul Lee to drill a baseline jumper off a broken play for the win. Compton called it a &quot;classic game,&quot; but it was one that the Aces couldn&#x27;t recover from; they fell behind early in Game 6, and never clawed their way out of the hole.&quot;We didn&#x27;t get it done,&quot; Compton said, summarizing their finals.Now, he has to turn his attention to the next season, which starts on January 13.Compton doesn&#x27;t deny that his team will lack preparation time. They do not even get a month to rest and recuperate from the long season, which lasted nearly 14 months.&quot;It&#x27;s really tough because we won&#x27;t have a preseason,&quot; he said. &quot;The delays are caused by us supporting the national team, so that&#x27;s great. The problem with the delays for us and our current situation is that we won&#x27;t really have a preseason.&quot;&quot;We got a bunch of banged-up guys that need to rest, and everybody does,&quot; Compton added. &quot;But the teams that were in the semis finished playing like on November 15 or 17. So a full month later, we&#x27;re still playing and then less than a month from now, we start the season.&quot;A six-week preseason would have been useful, said Compton, but as it stands they have no other choice.&quot;This will be a challenge, to say the least,&quot; he admitted.<div>For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.</div>

The 2019 season starts in less than a month, and coach Alex Compton acknowledged preparing for it will be a challenge for his "banged-up" team.

The 2019 season starts in less than a month, and coach Alex Compton acknowledged preparing for it will be a challenge for his "banged-up" team.

PBA: After 'painful' end to long season, Alaska readies for 2019 with little prep time

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Sudoku

Word of the Day

Lotto

Horoscope

Sports

PBA: After 'painful' end to long season, Alaska readies for 2019 with little prep time

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 21, 2018 05:37 PM PHT

|

Updated December 22, 2018 06:05 AM PHT

Read More:

PBA

2018 PBA Governors' Cup

2019 Philippine Cup

Alaska

Magnolia

Alex Compton

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.