On History and Pressure

The jugular
(Photo credit to PBA.Inquirer.net)

Coach Alex Compton erred when he said that the pressure was not on his Alaska Aces but rather the defending champions, Coach Leo Austria and his San Miguel Beermen.

See, when news broke out that the Beermen would be going into the PBA Philippine Cup Finals minus 2x PBA MVP Junemar Fajardo, which is currently tied at three games apiece with the deciding Game 7 to be held Wednesday, no one had them winning versus the number one seeded Aces. Most experts, bloggers and amateur social media commentators were raving about the Aces’ teamwork and hustle, which could only be thwarted by the giant presence the 6”10 Cebuano. Take him out of the game and suddenly, the Beermen find themselves on even ground as the Aces man for man—only, the latter has been playing on a high level together for so long under Compton from guys 1 through 15 while the Beermen pretty much run everything, offense or defense, through their big man.