BAY Area import Andrew Nicholson is a man of a few words.
Yet Nicholson has a mouthful to say about the way Game One of the Dragons' PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals against Barangay Ginebra was called by officials on Sunday night.
"Definitely different," Nicholson on the SPIN POV podcast when asked about how Christian Standhardinger and the rest of the Gin Kings defended him in the Dragons' 96-81 loss in the series opener.
[READ: Goorjian vows Dragons will 'hit back' after Game One loss]
"If you want to call it defense, you can call it defense, but it's not something that I've experienced in my years in basketball. .. didn't know it was allowed over here," the former NBA player added.
Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian was the first to raise questions on how Game One was called, pointing to the banging that Nicholson got from Standhardinger which he said kept the Dragons from running their offense around the import.
“Wherever Andrew went to run, (Standhardinger) steps in front and body checks him. So if I’m running from the half court to the basket, even if he’s behind, he’ll run and get in front of him,” said the veteran coach.
“When he (Nicholson) went to grind down the floor, he (Standhardinger) popped him. You know, just step in front, body check. Step in front, body check, step in front, body check. And I hadn’t played against that before.”
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Nicholson scored 27 points on 17 attempts in the opener of the best-of-seven series - decent numbers that are still below the import's averages of 34 points and 22 attempts a game.
Asked about it, Nicholson insisted he was unaffected.
"Still did my thing - shot 60 percent [from the field], scored 27, so I was still pretty efficient," Nicholson said. "Just have to make some adjustments and guess I have to learn to play rugby."
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