Banchero slams Alaska’s defense in another loss

MANILA, Philippines — Chris Banchero feels change has to happen to Alaska. Quick.

And it has to apply to each and every man in the roster.

With the Aces suffering a loss to NLEX at the opening night of the PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday, the Alaska guard said that while their offense was flowing, they were struggling on the defensive end.

“We’re just not playing defense,” he said. “We’re giving up too many easy baskets. They’re just shooting layups and layups all game. Obviously we need to fix that.”

Banchero, a member of the 2015 All-Rookie team, has seen the best of the Aces. They’ve been in multiple playoff runs since his drafting and reached the Finals twice.
And now, the worst.

The Aces’ 104-112 defeat to NLEX stretched their skid to nine long games, dating back to April 2 – the franchise's longest losing streak.

“We’re just not taking pride in defense that we did two years ago,” he rued. “We were the best defensive team in the league. People were having trouble against us every night.”

“Now it’s a walk in the park. (They’re) coming down the lane all night,” the Filipino-Italian said. “We need to take some pride and change that.”

Asked what else Alaska needed to work on moving forward in the season-ending conference, Banchero was quick to respond: “That’s all it is.”

“Our defense,” he continued. “We’re scoring the basketball, but we’re just not getting stops.”

“We’re not the team we used to be, and we need to change that,” Banchero noted. “We need to take care of business on Saturday (and) get back on a winning streak.”
Alaska takes on Phoenix in the skirmish set at the Mall of Asia Arena.