BARANGAY Ginebra is lined up for a rematch with the Bay Area Dragons when it makes its East Asia Super League (EASL) debut this October following the draw ceremony held in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
The Gin Kings and the Dragons, who figured in a memorable PBA Finals last season that went down to the wire, were drawn in Group B with the Ryukyu Golden Kings of the Japan B.League and the Seoul SK Knights of the KBL.
Ginebra and Bay Area battled in tightly-fought PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals early this year, which the Kings won in seven games.
TNT Tropang Giga meanwhile, was drawn in Group A together with Taipei Fubon Braves, Chiba Jets, and defending champion Anyang KGC.
The EASL will be playing Season 2 under its original home-and-away format after initially discarding it during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
READ: Juan Gomez de Liano signs with Seoul SK Knights
Under the new format, the four teams in each group play each other twice – once at home and once away.
That meant the Kings will host the Dragons here in the country, and later play them on the road, possibly in Macau.
Ginebra is also going to play reigning B.League champion Ryukyu Golden Kings featuring former Gilas stalwart Carl Tamayo and the Seoul SK Knights, which just signed former University of the Philippine star Juan Gomez De Liano to a three-year contract on Tuesday.
TNT on the other hand, will clash with defending KBL champion Anyang KGC and Gilas pool member Rhenz Abando, Chiba Jets, and P League + champion Taipei Fubon Braves.
The Tropang Giga lost both their games to the Seoul SK Knights and Utsunomiya Brex during EASL Season 1 held last March.
The top two teams in the standings in each group at the end of the eliminations will advance to the Final Four slated in March next year.
The draw, graced by EASL co-founder and CEO Matt Beyer, was livestreamed to all EASL stakeholders including officials from FIBA and all league partners.
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