ALEX Compton sees himself as a man who doesn’t dwell on the past even after falling short in all of his four PBA Finals appearances as coach of the Alaska Aces.
What Compton believes, however, is to benefit from the lessons of those past experiences which he hopes would be beneficial in his latest bid to score a breakthrough championship, this time against the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok.
“We didn’t get the championship so hopefully I came out wiser and the players that have been through it, hopefully they come out wiser,” said Compton.
“But in terms of living in the past, I don’t believe in that. I believe in taking lessons in the past and going forward. Hopefully, we got some lessons in our back pocket and we go forward and maybe we can see if we can change the outcome this time.”
The former MBA star found immediate success upon his appointment as head coach in 2014. The Aces fell a win shy of making the finals in Compton’s first full conference in that year’s Fiesta Conference, losing to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the semis.
The defeat turned out to be the start of a string of four finals appearances in the next five conferences for the Aces, who thrived under Compton’s full-court press and a squad built around Calvin Abueva.
But Alaska went empty-handed in all four stints in the PBA’s biggest stage, the most crushing of which was the 2016 Philippine Cup Finals when the Aces won the first three games against the San Miguel Beermen.
The Aces were a few minutes away from clinching the crown in Game 4, leading by about 11 in the fourth when the Beermen came back in stunning fashion to prevail in overtime.
San Miguel eventually won three more matches to complete the comeback known as the “Beeracle” even as Compton put himself in a dubious distinction of being on the losing end
Alaska’s return to the finals, which began at presstime at the Mall of Asia Arena, marked a steady turnaround from last season’s dismal campaign where the Aces at one point lost 14 consecutive games.
The Aces made the quarterfinals of this season’s Philippine Cup, before bucking the suspension and eventual trade of Calvin Abueva to the Phoenix Fuel Masters in their semis appearances in the Commissioner’s Cup and Governors’ Cup with Manuel and Chris Banchero emerging as two of the team’s main weapons.
But the addition of Mike Harris allowed the Aces to make it past the semis by edging the Bolts in the series that went four games. (JONAS TERRADO)
