WHILE the momentum of the PBA Commissioner's Cup finals shifted to the Bay Area Dragons following its 17-point blowout win in Game Two against Barangay Ginebra, Brian Goorjian definitely welcomed the one week break from the title series.
The respite, according to the Dragons coach, will help the team rest and recover from what had been an intense best-of-seven series to far that is tied at 1-1.
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Do-it-all import Andrew Nicholson is the major beneficiary of the finals breather, Goorjian added.
“You got to make that an advantage. I’m not playing too deep into the bench. We very much rely on Nicholson, and Nicholson played every minute until it’s over,” he said.
The 6-foot-10 Nicholson is playing heavy minutes, averaging 42.5 minutes in the first two games of the series.
He played 46 minutes in Game Two where he finished with 30 points, 15 rebounds, and shot 11-of-21 from the field.
The former NBA player is averaging 28.5 points and 13.5 rebounds.
“Again, all of this are new to us than it is to them (Barangay Ginebra), and we have less experience. So two game, we can grow and we really got the time to freshen up and make more adjustments,” said Goorjian.
Game Three is set on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
While the final score of both games doesn’t reflect how hardly fought the series has been so far, Goorjian hopes the fans are enjoying the battle between the two teams.
“I’m loving the battle, and I keep using the word about this whole experience, it’s just respect. It’s really, really enjoyable of tough game of good basketball,” said the Bay Area coach.
The finals has been drawing an average of 17,000 crowd attendance.
“I hope the fans like it. I know they want their team to win, but I hope they’re enjoying the series because it’s pretty special so far,” added Goorjian
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