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    Dragons need to adjust to physicality, calls in PBA Finals, says Goorjian

    Bay Area coach talks about lessons learned after loss
    Dec 25, 2022
    Brian Goorjian
    PHOTO: Marlo Cueto

    THE Bay Area Dragons need to adjust quickly to the way games are called in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals in the aftermath of a 96-81 loss to Barangay Ginebra in Sunday’s series opener at the Mall of Asia Arena.

    Coach Brian Goorjian thought the Kings played import Andrew Nicholson a little bit physical that put him out of his comfort zone, and eventually led to his lowest output for the conference with 27 points.

    “How they guard Nicholson. Freedom of movement. He’s got to be able to move somewhere. Everywhere he goes to step, a guy jumps in front of him and smacks him. And that’s something learned in Game 1,” said Goorjian.

    [READ: Ginebra brings joy to fans on Christmas with Game 1 win]

    “We have to come up with some solutions,” he added. “That defense on our best player was hard to deal with tonight. We can never get him loose and this is something that we learned in the playoffs.”

    The 6-foot-10 NBA veteran though, was still good enough to hit 3-of-6 from three-point range and 7-of-11 from the field, and added 12 rebounds and two steals while having to deal with the defense of Ginebra big man Christian Standhardinger.

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    But Nicholson was held to just eight points in the first half at a time when the Kings seized control for good behind a solid second quarter to take a 45-40 lead at the break, from where the Dragons never recovered.

    At the height of the Kings’ run, Nicholson was even called for a flagrant foul penalty 1 after committing a landing spot violation on LA Tenorio.

    “We have to find a way to get Nicholson comfortable on the floor,” added Goorjian.

    On the other hand, Zhu Songwei found himself in foul trouble early on, committing his third personal foul with just five minutes gone by in the first period.

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    Zhu finished with 12 points but shot just 4-of-13 from the field.

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      Goorjian acknowledged it was a huge factor in the game as it limited the movement of the 6-foot-9 stretch forward.

      "They were good calls. It was undiscipline on his part, and he didn't make any adjustments," said the 69-year-old coach of the Australian men's national team.

      "They were fouls and it put us in trouble."

      But Goorjian hopes the same can be made when its the Kings who are guarding Nicholson.

      “They guarded Nicholson like that, and there was no penalty for it," Goorjian said in stark contrast with Zhu's situation.

      "Again, it’s hard to score when you’re being bumped in hell. And they called it and those are fouls. But I thought they got away with murder on the other end of the court."

      Game 2 is set on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

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      PHOTO: Marlo Cueto
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