PASAY CITY, PHILIPPINES – Meralco Bolts’ guard duo Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome feel confident about their team’s chances of going deep and winning it all in the 2024-2025 East Asia Super League (EASL) season.

Both Banchero and Newsome were key figures in Meralco’s first win of the tournament against the Macau Black Bears. Newsome was the team’s leading scorer with 18 points while Banchero was relentless in attacking the Black Bears’ paint, scoring 14 points, as the Bolts took the win 97-85.

“We’re definitely in it [EASL] to win it,” Banchero said post-game. Last year we [Meralco] underperformed but we’ve got a much better team now – we got DJ [Kennedy], Ange [Kouame], and AD [Allen Durham]. We’ve got a really good team and we’ve got a good chance to play some really good basketball.”

Meralco just finished with a measly 1-4 record in EASL’s last season. Now, the league added a new rule of allowing 2 imports plus a naturalized player, hence the addition of the naturalized Filipino Kouame. The Bolts certainly feel good now with the level of basketball they are playing and they’re hoping to take it all the way. However, Newsome says the team is still wary of what’s more to come and the expectations that come along with it.

“We wanna just take it one game at a time and get as many wins as we can,” Newsome said. The goal is to get to the semifinals, and once you get to the semis you can focus on the Finals – but of course, you gotta rack it up one win at a time.”

Meralco is in Group B of the EASL along with the aforementioned Macau, Japan’s Ryukyu Golden Kings, Korea’s Busan KCC Egis, and Taiwan’s New Taipei Kings. Only the top two teams of each group move onto the Final Four round, with a crossover semifinal format set place against Group A’s top two finishers.

“We tied our win total from last season and we have five more games to try to get wins and try to get into the [top two] of our group, and that’s the goal – just to get to the semifinals. It’s gonna take more than one win, it’s gonna take more than two wins – but all we can control is take it one game at a time,” Newsome added.

Banchero affirmed Newsome’s statements but also added Meralco has to play better than they did as they go up the champions and runner-up of each East Asian country, a staple of international hoops in the region.

“I’m excited. I know we need to play better than we did so it’s good to get that first win under our belt and take it onto the next – to try and get a win in Okinawa [against the Ryukyu Golden Kings,” Banchero stated.

Watch the full interview here:

(@EASLofficial) Meralco Bolts’ guard Chris Banchero shares the team’s expectations on this brand new EASL season: We’re a much better team now — I’m excited. We’ve got a real good chance to play some really good basketball. pic.twitter.com/G7tJKkKZFu

— Mon Anthony Valmoria (@MorvalNBA) October 4, 2024