The Alaska Aces is scheduled for a head-to-head quarterfinals round game against the Talk ‘N Text KaTropa at 7:00 P.M. on July 24, 2019 live from the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The Aces hopes that their quarterfinals opener success recipe will continue to work tonight while the KaTropa will prove why they’re the number one squad after the elimination round when the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Quarterfinals resume this evening at the Big Dome.
With their winning streak and their formidable form in the first round of the tournament, it seems like almost everyone is in disbelief that the number one seeded team got outplayed by the number eight seeded squad.
“We didn’t see that coming,” said Alaska head coach Alex Compton. “A big part of it, I think, is because they missed shots all night. They missed shots they normally make. These games happen to great teams and TNT is a great team.”
Most of the major facets of the game, the KaTropa got outplayed. It was also noticed by their team consultant, Mark Dickel.
“They outhustled us, outrebounded us, outworked us. We’re not just ready to play. Ultimately, when that happens, you’re going to be in trouble,” said Dickel.
“We just didn’t make shots and we didn’t stick to our rules on D (defense). That kind of took us all out of our rhythm. At it just wasn’t good,” he added.
In tonight’s game, TNT will avoid what had happened twenty years ago where the then Asi Taulava-led Talk ‘N Text got eliminated by Ginebra squad after Bal David swished his hail-mary half-court shot.
The scenario was almost similar, TNT got defeated by an eighth-seeded squad.
For Alaska, they’ll try to prove that they’re in their best when it comes to a knockout game.
They have done it twice, against the NLEX Road Warriors in this year’s All-Filipino then against the Meralco Bolts just five nights ago.