Injuries played huge role in Alab Pilipinas’ exit in ABL

Cebuano Chris Sumalinog. | Photo from ABL Facebook

Cebu City, Philippines — The defending champions San Miguel Alab Pilipinas’ title defense crashed and burned on Wednesday night, April 3, 2019, after they got blown out by Hong Kong Eastern, 84-102, in the ASEAN Basketball League playoffs over at the Southorn Stadium in Hong Kong.

Cebuano wingman Chris Sumalinog, in a talk immediately after their crushing loss, said that injuries suffered by several Alab players late in the elimination round derailed their campaign for a second straight crown. 

Alab actually ended this season with six straight losses, including back-to-back defeats in the best-of-three quarterfinal series to the seventh-seeded Hong Kong that booted them out of contention for this year’s title.

“The worst thing that happened to us are the injuries at the later part of the eliminations. Even if guys were mostly back during the playoffs, it was really tough to pull out a quick turn around,” said Sumalinog, the former standout of Don Bosco Cebu.

Things were looking up for Alab early in Game 2 as they led, 18-6. 

However, Hong Kong came alive and responded with a 16-1 run to take a 22-18 lead, which they never relinquished from that point onwards. 

Sumalinog explained that they weren’t able to handle Hong Kong’s pressure defense well, leading to several turnovers that fuelled their opponent’s transition attack.

“We weren’t able to do a good job of breaking Hong Kong’s pressing defense. After committing four consecutive turnovers, we didn’t recover from there,” added Sumalinog.

With his ABL and Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League stints done, the 6-foot-2 cager said he’s looking forward to getting some much-needed rest. 

And although he is still signed to the Bacoor Strikers, Sumalinog said he isn’t discounting the possibility of one day playing for his hometown Cebu City Sharks.

“My priority now is to rest, to take my mind away from basketball for a while, spend time with my family. As for the Sharks, of course I’m open to playing for Cebu.” /bmjo