Dragons to soldier on without Jones
MALAYSIA Dragons received a blow ahead of the season-opening Asean Basketball League (ABL) clash with Mono Vampire today after rescinding the contract of former NBA player Solomon Jones.
Jones suffered a bereavement in his family recently and asked to return home with the Dragons agreeing to mutually terminate his contract just days before travelling to Bangkok.
The absence of Jones leaves the 2015 ABL champions Dragons with just three import players to rely upon as they embark on their eighth season in the league.
It is just the latest setback for Dragons coach Chris Thomas, who was only able to get his entire squad together on Monday following the return of five players from a trip to Taiwan with Negri Sembilan Matrix.
"It isn’t enough time for us to say the least, but we’ve got to work with what we’ve been given," said Thomas in a club statement.
"As the last team to start training, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do so we're focusing on shaping the team’s identity first. I don’t want our imports to make up most of the game time."
The Dragons have brought in American guard Marcus Marshall and Filipino duo Reil Cervantes and Patrick Cabahug, who returns to the team after starring for three seasons between 2010 and 2013.
After failing to make the ABL playoffs for the first time last season, the Dragons will be looking to make the cut this time in an enlarged nine-team league.
However, Thomas recognises the challenges ahead without 33year-old Jones, a veteran of six NBA clubs, in the team.
"We are going to run a lot of different actions this year and I think as a coach, you have to adapt to your roster instead of having the roster adapting to you," he said.
"We will try to do a lot of different things with our personnel this year but I will stay true to what I believe in. It will be a melding of last year’s principles and philosophies with a lot of new actions, motions and directions."
The league tipped off on Nov 17 when newcomers Chong Son Kung Fu of China routed Singapore Slingers 83-59 before CLS Knights downed Formosa Dreamers 94-73 in Surabaya in a clash between two other debutants.
Defending champions Hong Kong Eastern got their campaign underway by edging Alab Pilipinas 92-89.
- Wong Yi Hou, Heng Yee Tong, Phan Wee Chen, Ting Chun Hong, Teo Kok Hou, Reil Cervantes, Patrick Cabahug, Marcus Marshall, Ma Chee Kheun, Loh Shee Fai, John Ng, Kuek Tian Yuan, Ivan Yeo. Devinder Singh