Guest team Bay Area is wreaking havoc after going unbeaten in its first two games in the Commissioner’s Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association.
But NLEX interim coach Adonis Tierra believes that the mighty Dragons are beatable.
“For me, I don’t see them being a contender,” Tierra said after guiding the Road Warriors to a 96-90 victory over Rain or Shine last Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Tierra’s bold assessment has a solid basis.
When the Dragons made their debut, they spewed fire, ripping Blackwater by 46 points, 133-87, with import Myles Powell erupting for a game-high 41 points last Wednesday.
Three nights later, the Dragons saw action anew, but they had a hard time getting rid of NorthPort. In fact, Powell had to knock down a dramatic buzzer-beating jumper before the Dragons escaped with a thrilling 105-104 victory.
Powell took over in the second half to finish with 37 points, but had a hard time containing Robert Bolick, who finished with 33 points, five assists and three rebounds.
While Powell had proven that he’s going to be a handful for local guards because of his scoring prowess and 7-foot-5 giant Liu Chuanxing, a member of the Chinese national team, can be a matchup nightmare for opposing big men, Bay Area’s depth remains to be a suspect.
Powell has averaged 39 points in the first two games to go along with seven rebounds and 2.5 steals, but how far can he carry his squad in the next two games remains to be seen, especially when he faces the heavyweights like reigning champion San Miguel Beer, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and TNT Tropang Giga.
Tierra said it will only take a little time before PBA teams can figure out how to slay the Dragons.
“Teams still don’t know their tendencies,” he said.
“Then, I see their guards not known to be much of scorers. You know, PBA teams, some coaches had already scouted them. For me, I don’t think Bay Area should be feared by PBA teams.”
Powell will still play for the Dragons next two matches against Phoenix on 1 October and Converge on 7 October before he gets replaced by another former National Basketball Association campaigner in Andrew Nicholson.
Nicholson will play for four games before Dragons head coach Brian Goorjian decides on who between him and Powell will see action in the crucial stretch of this import-flavored conference.
“It depends after four games of Andrew and coach Brian’s decision,” Bay Area assistant coach Cholo Villanueva said when asked about the possibilities of the explosive Powell playing more than four game.
“It’s still a long way to go. It depends on how we learn and mature going into the conference. We are here to compete and give the best version of ourselves every game.”
