PBA braces for foreign squads in Commissioner’s Cup

VISITING Bay Area Dragons will not come to the Philippines as tourists and play like a laid carpet to local teams competing in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

The Dragons are fielding in a highly-competitive team and give the local squads a run for their money.

Barangay Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson shoots over Magnolia’s Mike Harris during the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum in December. PBA PHOTO 

Long-time Hong Kong national team player Duncan Reid will join forces with China’s 7-foot-5 behemoth Liu Chuanxing and several standouts who are bannering the Dragons squad in the PBA’s import-laden conference.

Reid, a Canadian based in Hong Kong, was a two-time Division 1 MVP and a four-time champion.

The 6-foot-9 center/forward represented the national team in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in China and he will be teaming up with Liu, a project player from the Chinese national squad.

Joining Reid and Liu in the Bay Area Dragons squad are several other notable players like Zhang Zhiyuan, Kobey Lam, Scotty Ewing, Song Jianhua and Zheng Qilong, among others.

Zhang was a former national team youth player of China, and at 6-foot-10, he will provide added ceiling to the Dragons. He has now showcased his skills in the 3×3 competitions.

Lam is a 6-foot-2 guard who played for the Denver Pioneers before moving to University of Charleston. He will team up in the backcourt with Ewing, a 31-year old who played for the Macau Wolf Warriors in the ABL.

Song, a 6-foot-5 swingman who played for the Monkey Kings in the Chinese Basketball Association, averaged 8.9 points and 4.1 rebounds in six seasons in the CBA.

Zheng is a 26-year-old forward, who last saw action for the Jiangsu Dragons in the CBA.

Coaching the Bay Area Dragons is widely-renowned international coach Brian Goorjan, a six-time champion coach and six-time Coach of the Year in the NBL Australia.

An Olympian, Goorjan is also the head coach of the Australian national basketball team.

“We’re building this team to be competitive right off the bat. Ultimately our goal is to win games and establish a strong culture that will allow the players to excel and sharpen their skills against the best competition the region has to offer,” said Goorjan, who led the Boomers to their first ever Olympic medal in last year’s Tokyo Games.

In addition to top Chinese talent, the club will also employ two top foreign imports with former NBA or top European league experience as well as one Asian import.

In March this year, the Bay Area Dragons and the PBA announced the newly established club will join the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup as a guest team due to Covid-induced travel-related obstacles in the Dragons’ home city of Hong Kong SAR, making the Dragons the first guest ball club in the PBA in nearly two decades.