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MANILA, Philippines—Alaska played without four of tis usual starters in its season opener against Rain or Shine in the PBA Philippine Cup, but the lone star that remained said playing shorthanded still wasn’t a viable excuse for them.
The Aces were thoroughly beaten, 85-72, and point guard Chris Banchero said it wasn’t that they missed the services of his missing teammates but that the Elasto Painters were plain better at them.
“It was hard but it’s no excuse,” said Banchero Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena. “Guys needed to step up and we didn’t play our best tonight. I think it was good to get that one out of the way because we got a lot of things to work on.”
“The game showed our weaknesses so we got a lot of film to watch but we don’t want to make excuses so it’s tough. When you get beat like that you know that you got a lot of things to work on.”
The Aces were severely undermanned against Rain or Shine with forward Vic Manuel and Kevin Racal nursing different injuries while guards JVee Casio and Simon Enciso also suffered the same predicament.
This huge absence of players saw Alaska rely on Banchero, who’s primarily a facilitator, Jeron Teng, and Jake Pascial to carry the offensive burden.
Banchero, who took a little over 10 shots a game in the past season, went 3-of-15 from the field for 11 points while tallying six rebounds and two assists.
Teng had 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting and Pascual, a backup to Manuel, had 12 points and nine boards while putting up 12 shots and making six.
Banchero added that they just have to buckle down and create momentum heading into the remainder of the season.
“We want to build momentum heading into the playoffs and we need to find out where we’re weak,” said Banchero. “But at the end of the day, guys needed to step up with four starters out.”