IN an effort to sustain the gains made in their recent PBA Commissioner’s Cup campaign, the Bay Area Dragons commissioned the Shantou University basketball team to serve as their practice opponent heading to their coming stint in the East Asia Super League (EASL) Champions Week in Japan.
The two teams began practice on Monday at Kerry Sports as the Dragons return to work following a well-deserved, eighth-day break after engaging champion Barangay Ginebra in a grueling and intense best-of-seven finals.
See No early clash for SMB, Bay Area Dragons in EASL Champions Week
Members of the Guandong-based university have been in the country since Thursday and spent the Chinese New Year here while waiting for the Dragons to return from their vacation.
Shantou is being coached by Evan Gordon, brother of Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon.
Like Bay Area, Shantou currently stays at Shangri-La Fort.
Incidentally, Bay Area star big man Zhu Songwei was a product of Shantou University.
Some Bay Area players travelled to Bali for rest and recreation, while the others checked out the sceneries in Bohol.
Coach Brian Goorjian however, opted to stay in Manila along with three other Dragons in Ju Mingxin, Zheng Qilong, and Scott Ewing.
The Dragons, who finished as the top seeded team heading to the playoffs of the mid-season conference, are staying in Manila until next month before leaving for Okinawa, Japan on Feb. 28 for the Champions’ Week.
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