Dragons hire American Thomas to replace Vanguardia

PETALING JAYA: The Westports Malaysia Dragons have hired Christopher Thomas (pic) as their new coach.

The American will replace Filipino Ariel Vanguardia, who has left to take charge of the Phoenix Fuel Masters in the Philippines Basketball Association after guiding the Dragons to their maiden Asean Basketball League (ABL) crown in March.

The 35-year-old Thomas’ last job was in charge of the Orangeville A’s in Canada’s National Basketball League (NBL) last year.

He has also worked extensively with university teams – Pittsburgh-Johnstown (2003-2005), Miami Redhawks (2005-2007) and the Lake Superior State University (2010-2011).

Thomas also comes with NBA experience, having worked as a scout for the Chicago Bulls (2007-2009), the Golden State Warriors (20122014) and the Utah Jazz (2014-2015). He was the assistant coach with the Slovenian national team from 2013-2014.

“I am looking forward to calling KL home and the opportunity to coach and live here is a dream come true,” said Thomas.

“My goal is to have a team that are ready to play every night, to compete for every possession and to play with passion every time they take the floor.

“I want a team of players who are hungry for success and will play for each other.

“As defending ABL champions we have a huge target on our backs but I enjoy the challenge and I’m ready to put in the work for us to be champions again.”

Thomas’ arrival is a timely boost as the team are preparing for the Merlion Cup in Singapore from Sept 21-25.

Theywill also compete in the Asia Champions Cup in Chengzhou-Hunan, China from Oct 8-16 before the ABL season starts in November.