[ad_1]
FUKUOKA, JAPAN—Bay Area believes it will not be able to salvage third place in the East Asian Super League (EASL) Champions Week if it is not for the club in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Dragons coach Brian Goorjian swears by this.
“My teacher in this regard is: [This bid] was one of the best experiences, and it was really good for our first-year team playing in the PBA,” he said during the 90-70 win against the Ryukyu bet at the Okinawa Arena.
“What do they learn? [there] coming in is very important to do what we do,” he said. “We are a better basketball team than when we landed in Manila.”
Bay Area played in the last PBA Commissioner’s Cup and reached the championship series. The Dragons bowed to Barangay Ginebra in seven games before a record crowd of 54,589, but also won the admiration of Filipino fans.
After that, Goorjian and his charge stayed for a while and hosted several clubs and college teams at the makeshift base at Shangri-La in Bonifacio Global City in preparation for a five-day show featuring top pro clubs from the Philippines, Japan and Chinese-Taipei .
So happy with the outfit from Hong Kong that we are thinking of a return visit to Manila.
The Dragons will reunite in August and between now and then, more details related to the plan will be revealed, according to Goorjian.
In a separate interview, PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial said PBA leaders want to have the Dragons back, citing how they experimented with opening the league to visiting teams.
“Absolutely,” he said when asked if he really thinks the Bay Area is successful. “We all saw that, didn’t we?”
“I spoke with (EASL chief operating officer) Matt Beyer and we agreed to discuss further,” he said.
“We are looking to lay down the plans in our next annual meeting-that in EASL, and that for Fiba (International Basketball Federation) windows-so that we can have a tidy next season,” he added. INQ
Your subscription cannot be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
Read Next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & 70+ other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to news, download from 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For suggestions, complaints, or questions, please contact us.
[ad_2]
Source link