The Meralco Bolts found themselves in a hole against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Friday, and they couldn’t quite get out of it despite the efforts of Chris Banchero and import Antonio Hester. In the end, the Bolts lost 84-75 to drop to 2-3 in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
Speaking with Rebanse after the game, Banchero pointed out that the Bolts’ defense kept them alive late in the contest, only to lose steam as their usually reliable three-point shooting was off the mark all game long.
“We got some shots to finally fall. [But] it was a tough night for us shooting-wise, [and] our defense kept up in it, to be honest,” Banchero said. “[We] finally kinda got a couple of shots to go in the fourth and made a little run.”
In the first half, the Bolts went cold from beyond the arc, going 0-of-16. They finished the game shooting just 4-of-26 from three-point range. As a result, Meralco couldn’t make headway even as Ginebra also shot poorly for stretches.
Banchero Calls on Bolts to Step Up
Aside from poor shooting, Meralco also had the misfortune of missing the services of key players CJ Cansino, Jason Brickman, Bong Quinto, and Raymond Almazan. It is no excuse for Banchero, though, as he implored his teammates to step up and perform better.
“Everybody needs to step up, including all of us. We’re 2-3 now, [and] we need to pick up on Sunday. It’s a really, really important game,” Banchero stressed.
There’s some picking up to do for sure. Against Ginebra, Chris Newsome shot just 3-of-10 from the field and committed 3 turnovers. Aaron Black started the game but went 0-of-7 in 19 minutes of action. Shooting specialist Allein Maliksi also struggled, going just 2-of-10.
“We’re gonna have to do better than that to win on Sunday,” Banchero added.
The Bolts will definitely have to step up as they next face the red-hot Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, winners of three straight—including Friday’s 98-97 escape act against the Magnolia Hotshots
