Chris Banchero could only sit helplessly as Alaska failed to make a comeback on Sunday evening
Alaska floor general Chris Banchero was in civilian attire when the Alaska Aces took on the Blackwater Elite. And it will be the same for the rest of the elimination round for the Aces’ leading assist man, who was diagnosed with a broken left hand and will only be cleared to play in two to three weeks.
“I hurt it during the Talk ‘N Text game [on] the 23rd [December]. We had a long break and then I came back and played,” said Banchero, who is averaging 7.3 points and 5.4 assists per contest this conference. “I hurt it again when we played against Star and I played the entire game. It was so painful that I needed to get an x-ray. They found a broken bone in there and I got to rest.”
This is a big blow to Alaska, as rim protector Nonoy Baclao has been out of action since December 3 due to a left knee injury. Moreover, Alaska’s slate fell to 4-4 after losing to Blackwater, 103-100, dropping to seventh place.
The 27-year-old remains confident that the Aces can overcome their next three opponents even without him.
“It’s a tough time to be injured but I think they’ll take care of business and I’ll be ready come playoff time. Tough time but we have so many guys who can step up and make plays,” the former ABL Finals MVP said.
But in order to do so, they can’t display the lack of intensity they showed against Blackwater.
“We talked about it in the locker room, we can’t just turn it up when we are down 13 points. We made a lot of turnovers and we made a lot of plays that we tried to force,” the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft lamented.
“Jvee [Casio] played great, he’s the reason we were in the game. But we can’t be doing that to be a championship team, you can’t try to just turn it up if you’re down 15 points. It’s not going to work.”
And the 6-foot-1 floor general is vowing that he will be back just in time for the post-season.
“February 3rd I’ll be back!”
