Hope fueled Alaska in what many perceived to be a lopsided matchup in TNT's favor in the 2019 PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals, and for six quarters it looked like hope was going to take the team farther than anyone expected.
Alas, the Aces couldn't get the job done in those final two quarters.
"Barack Obama wrote a book called 'The Audacity of Hope,'" Alaska coach Alex Compton said. "I felt like I had the audacity to hope that we were gonna win this. I actually believed that we were gonna win.
"I just really thought that we were going to be able to beat them. I don't know how to explain the feeling, but I just feel sick inside."
Alaska nearly pulled off the upset of the conference against the top-seeded KaTropa, who slowed down the Aces' frenetic pace on both sides of the floor to survive. After holding TNT to just 6-for-35 from 3-point range in a Game 1 win and 4-for-18 in the first half of Game 2, Alaska failed to contain what Compton described as "the best offensive team in the league" and watched as their foes shot a blistering 8-for-10 from deep in the third quarter.
"At a certain point, you're not stopping them for four, five games. You're hoping to see if you can steal their rhythm as long as possible, grit and grind it out, just fight for it. You're hoping that you're gonna make some plays and they're gonna miss some shots," Compton said.
"I think the other team deserved it, I'm not saying not, but I thought we had come up with a different look for them in a lot of ways. The first half we were able to execute it, and then the second half the team that was 10-1 showed up. The little adjustments that we made, they exposed," he added.
Having only one timeout in the final six minutes also dealt a blow to the Aces as TNT finally hit their stride while Alaska cooled down from an impressive 8-for-11 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half.
"Both (TNT consultant) Mark [Dickel] and I had to go through our timeouts kinda quick. Them in the first quarter, us in the third. I had one timeout in the last six minutes of a playoff game, so I couldn't stop the bleeding too much and give us a set," the coach said. "I just wish I could have gotten us a few more possessions there in the fourth that would've gotten us a few more baskets."
"There's a reason they're 10-1," he added. "I thought we prepared our way into a chance to steal this. They earned it."
Despite the exit, the team's aggressive spirit in its second knockout match of the tournament was a very bright spot for Compton.
"When it looked like there was no hope, we didn't stop hoping and fighting. It's really easy to roll over and die, and I don't think our guys [did] that one second," he said. "That's a big thing for me, honoring the game the whole time. Guys could've made excuses, but they didn't. They played their butts off."
And as dejected as he is about not being able to move on to the next round, Compton thinks the TNT-Ginebra semifinal will be a colossal showdown.
"I know anybody can win. That's a championship-level series right there. That's gonna be awesome," he said.
"I'm heartbroken, I feel sick that we lost, and I'm gonna be watching that series because the talent level from those teams, the way that those guys are playing, tremendous. All PBA fans, seriously. I'm an Alaska guy but all PBA fans should watch that Talk 'N Text-Ginebra series. That's gonna be fun."
In between and after that series, though, Compton will have a lot of spare time to reflect on what just transpired.
"I didn't plan anything. I planned on winning. I know I'm gonna do my best to sleep at some point when we're on a break," he said, laughing.