Dragons make changes to line-up after two early losses in ABL

PETALING JAYA: The Westports Malaysia Dragons have rung the changes as they seek to improve their standing in the Asean Basketball League (ABL).

The Dragons had a rather mixed start to the campaign. They stunned the Mono Vampire Basketball Club 116-112 in Bangkok on Nov 26 before falling short in their two home matches – 81-96 to the Chong Son Kung Fu of China on Nov 29 and 90-107 to Mono on Dec 2.

Alarmed by the losses, the Dragons’ have released Filipino import Reil Cervantes and American Curtis Washington and signed FilipinoAmerican Joshua Munzon and American Allen Jeffrey (AJ) West.

Munzon, a 22-year-old guard is no stranger to the Dragons, having played for them last season where he averaged 19.4 points.

As for the 2.06m West, 26, he played in Qatar and Lithuania last year. He also featured for Uruguayan club Atletico Bigua earlier this year where he averaged 14.6 points and 11.1 rebounds.

“It’s good to have Josh back. He played a key role to some of our wins last season and we know what he can bring. His tenacious defending and ability to get up on the break will help us improve,” said Dragons assistant general manager Shoghi Gan.

“AJ, on the other hand, has shown he’s a high-impact player. Having him go after rebounds relentlessly will give our players the freedom to shoot more.

“His ability to put up double-doubles will also be a big factor for us as we contend for the championship,” added Shoghi.

Both Munzon and West are expected to join the squad on Friday. The other imports on the Dragons’ payroll are American Marcus Marshall and Filipino Patrick Cabahug.

The Dragons, who are sixth in the nine-team league after taking three weeks off due to the Agong Cup National Basketball Championships, resume action on Jan 3.

They travel to Manila to face the Tanduay Alab Pilipinas before heading to Bangkok on Jan 12 to play Mono again.