The PBA Finals isn't over yet, but for all the controversies, this question is worth asking. Brian Goorjian himself answered it.
Win or lose, Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian would love to bring his Dragons back to the PBA — that is, if Asia’s first pay-for-play league comes calling again.
Goorjian made the admission in Noli Eala’s show, Power & Play, answering in the affirmative when the former PBA commissioner asked if he would want his Dragons to play again in the PBA.
“A hundred percent,” said Goorjian, who sees trans-border tournaments as a way to improve the quality of hoops in the Asian region, which now includes Australia and New Zealand.
“The whole thing about the move is our area, Asia, needs international competition for the national teams. They have it in Europe, the international players in the NBA. There’s nothing like this in Asia and it stops Asia from medaling,” explained the American-Australian tactician. “The Boomers are the first team in the history of basketball to win a medal [in the Olympics] out of this region — ever. And if we’re gonna medal, we need this kind of competition for the coaches to grow, for the players to grow.”
And as far as Goorjian is concerned, there is growth already, both for his team and for himself.
“The growth in our Chinese players [is] on learning to deal with physicality, to learning to deal with speed, showing more emotion and not being so stoic, [to having] more communication on the floor,” said Goorjian. “For me personally, competing against a guy like Tim Cone in a seven-game series. [Playing] Talk n Text, San Miguel, different styles of play, different strategies — I’ve learned a lot, and it’s gonna help me internationally, it’s gonna help my team [Bay Area].”
Goorjian, who coached Australia to a bronze in the 2020 Olympics, ended the interview by emphasizing that he and his Dragons “did not come [to the Philippines] for a one-off experience.”
The Dragons’ headman wants return engagements. Your move, PBA.