The Bay Area Dragons are on the right track as they battle the best local teams in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup on 21 September.
Dragons assistant coach Cholo Villanueva said they will face Phoenix on Tuesday, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Thursday and, probably, Meralco next week before wrapping up the series of friendly matches that aims to prepare them for the midseason conference.
Villanueva said he and head coach Brian Goorijan are already happy with the way things are going, but they still have goals that they want to achieve.
“For this week, we will face Phoenix on Tuesday and Ginebra on Thursday. We’re still waiting for confirmation from Meralco if they are okay to play next week,” said Villanueva, a former De La Salle University standout who is assisting Goorijan in whipping the Dragons in competitive shape.
“We know Phoenix is a pressing team so we need to work on our press break. For Ginebra, they’re a well-coached team. We want to see how we play our defense on that.”
Composed of players from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau who will also be playing in the East Asia Super League, the Dragons already played and won eight tune-up games with professional and collegiate teams.
Their latest win was a 114-108 decision over NLEX, which was bannered by former National Basketball Association player Earl Clark under interim coach Adonis Tierra, last week.
Villanueva believes that the team’s chemistry can only go up as they play more tune-up games before the import-flavored tourney kicks off.
“We’re on the right track. One month of being together, they’re knowing their roles in the system and their teammates for next years,” said Villanueva, who will parade a very explosive crew bannered by former NBA standout Andrew Nicholson, Myles Powell, Scotty Ewing, Duncan Reid and 7-foot-5 giant Liu Chuanxing.
