Dragons grateful for PBA experience
Bay Area — the most dominant visiting squad to play in the Philippine Basketball Association the last four decades — had taken the league by storm after clinching a twice-to-beat incentive in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup.
But the Dragons could only thank the PBA for bringing out the best in them.
Despite playing their imports alternately in the elimination round, the Dragons were able to showcase their brand of game that is fast, entertaining and explosive local fans are delighted to see.
The Dragons ended their elimination round with a 10-2 win-loss record, assuring themselves of a twice-to-beat advantage going to the next round.
Either Bay Area finishes No. 1 or No. 2 hardly matter as it had already gained the playoff bonus it can enjoy when it battles the lowly-ranked teams in the quarterfinal round.
For the most part of the tournament, the Dragons were getting the bulk of their production from imports Myles Powell and Andrew Nicholson — two players who saw action in the National Basketball Association but could only take turns in seeing action.
Powell averaged 37.3 points per game to lead all imports in scoring.
He also topped the reinforcements in three-points made per game with at least five per contest while tied with Kaleb Wesson for most steals per game with two.
The heady playmaker, who had a brief stint playing with the Philadelphia 76ers last year before cracking the Dragons roster this season, is also the leader in player efficiency rating with +15.5 in +/- average.
Playing four games this season, Nicholson used to be the best scorer among reinforcements as well, averaging 38.5 points per game.
Both Powell and Nicholson each had a 50-point output in one game, but the 6-foot-2 guard from Philadelphia was able to do it in just three quarters.
But Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian was happy with the progress of his local players ahead of the playoffs.
“Thank you to the PBA. What you see here is the growth and better understanding of how to play proper basketball from our Chinese players, our local content,” Goorjian said.
“We came here to grow and get better and through the competition here, I keep saying the big plus of our season so far is our local kids who keep on improving.”
He added that playing in the league boosted the skills of their local players.
“They’re learning how to defend the Filipino players, who are so quick and so we’re getting the better understanding of the toughness,” he added.
“We’re staying in there. The games we’ve lost earlier in the season, they were pushing us around. I’m really pleased with the development of our young players for the competition. That’s why we’re here. We’re here to grow. We’re moving the ball better and we’re playing as a group, not depending on the imports.”
In the last four games that the Dragons have won, they beat their opponents by an average winning margin of 22.75 points.
But the improvement doesn’t reflect on the scoring line, according to Goorjian, the same coach who guided Australia to winning its first ever Olympic bronze medal in the Olympics last year.
“It’s not really the scoreline,” he said.
“It’s just the fact that we’re getting more people involved in the game. We know the playoffs is going to be a different game. It’s something we’ve never experienced before. We were really taking advantage of the scoreline, which means we’re getting contributions from more of our young players.”