Bay Area Dragons’ import Import Andrew Nicholson. –PBA IMAGES
After almost breaking a PBA record, the Bay Area Dragons are now looking forward to a refreshing change of pace.
“These guys are island-bound,” Dragons coach Brian Goorjian.
They deserve it.
Bay Area came to within a point of resetting a league record for winning margin when it totaled the Terrafirma Dyip, 130-76, in the Commissioner’s Cup on Friday at PhilSports Arena.
And it’s not like the Dragons were really trying.
“We were certainly not trying to [chase the record],” Goorjian said. “We went from 30 to 50 (up), and a lot of times when you put the bench in, it pegs it back. But we certainly weren’t trying to win by this amount.”
Imagine how much in worse shape Terrafirma would have been if Bay Area put in the effort.
Another stirring first half by import Andrew Nicholson set up the rout that allowed Goorjian to tap his seldom-used players before the Dragons fell a point shy of equaling the current mark of 55 set 42 years ago.
U-Tex, powered by Bogs Adornado and former Boston Celtic Glenn McDonald, still holds the current record which it set on July 12, 1980, in a 154-99 victory over Great Taste.
Incidentally, at that time, Great Taste was in the midst of what would become a then-record 18-game skid.
The defunct franchise no longer holds that mark. And neither is it in second place. The Dyip, who never gave themselves a fighter’s chance after tipoff, lost for the 22nd straight game to inch closer to the record slump of 29 straight games of Blackwater.
As unflattering as those numbers are, Goorjian said there was no reason for Bay Area to treat the game different from its previous games such as the lone loss in the conference to Barangay Ginebra and the 26-point triumph over San Miguel Beer.
“Although they’re at the bottom, they’ve been very dangerous,” Goorjian said of the Dyip, who earlier in the conference had opportunities to come away victorious only to falter in the second half.
“The guys get a little bit of a break now, and we wanted to finish this thing off right [because] we saw this as a danger game,” added the Australian national team mentor.
It was the second huge rout of Bay Area in this tournament. The Dragons also clobbered Blackwater, 133-87.
Converge triumphs
Aldin Ayo and the Converge FiberXers. –PBA IMAGES
Converge spoiled the debut of new import Devon Scott and produced a 106-102 upset win over San Miguel Beer in the nightcap to go 3-2 in the midseason conference. Nicholson put up 31 of his 37 points in the first half, continuing the habit of scoring heavily in the early goings of the match.
It was the ex-NBA cager’s third in a stretch of four games before Goorjian makes a difficult decision that could affect Bay Area’s title chances.
Bay Area takes on Meralco on Nov. 4 in the final game of Nicholson’s shift, then Goorjian will decide on Nicholson or guard Myles Powell, who was excellent during his four-game stint prior to the change.
“When I came here and when I recruited both of them, that was never part of the agenda, never a part of the platform,” he said. “I know it’s coming closer, but I’m not looking forward to that, and I haven’t thought about which one.”
What he and the Dragons are looking forward to is the chance to explore the country during the long respite, with Boracay appearing to be the preferred destination.
That, Goorjian feels, would help a great deal for Bay Area before they head back to action for the critical juncture of the eliminations against tough opponents, that not only includes Meralco, but also Rain or Shine (Nov. 11), NLEX (Nov. 13), Magnolia (Nov. 19) and TNT (Nov. 23).
“I want them to enjoy this experience,” said Goorjian, whose team has been in the country since August. “We keep saying ‘Get out of your apartment, explore, see this place, it’s beautiful.’”