Hong Kong Eastern head coach Mensur Bajramovic would rather want his team to be seen as themselves and not a version of another after reading the sentiments of fans and netizens alike with regards to their PBA participation.
The Bosnian mentor has been aware of the comments online saying that they are the second coming Bay Area being a guest team in Asia’s pioneering pro league but disagrees, saying that they are different from their predecessor.
“I saw some comments like we are Bay Area 2.0. We are not,” he said. “We are a pure Hong Kong team with some additional power. And for us, it means a lot.”
Bajramovic said as much on Wednesday night, moments after his charges dealt Phoenix a 102-87 victory at the Philsports Arena in Pasig for a successful beginning to their Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup campaign.
Winning via big margin actually brought shades of how the Dragons fared during their first and only stint in the PBA back in the same tilt in the 2022-23 season,
There, they ran roughshod over the opposition before settling for a runner-up finish behind Barangay Ginebra in a title series highlighted by a historic Game 7 at the Philippine Arena, where a total of 54,589 fans filled the venue.
But as Bajramovic mentioned, Eastern aren’t Bay Area 2.0 whatsoever, for they are filled with homegrown talent from Hong Kong — which they take pride in.
In all fairness, though, the now-defunct Dragons did have some Hong Kong-born talents such as big man Duncan Reid although most of the players came from mainland China, led by 7-foot-5 center Liu Chuanxing.
Still, there remains that respect toward the Bay Area of Coach Brian Goorjian, and what they did. And in fact, some players from that old franchise are with Eastern presently, namely Hayden Blankley, Glen Yang, and Kobey Lam.
Blankley himself acknowledges that he is, indeed, part of a different team than what he and his pals played for some two years ago, particularly size-wise.
“It’s a very different team. As you guys know, the Bay Area team was blessed with some mainland Chinese players that were all probably six foot six and above, some seven footers. This team, not so much,” he said.
“We still have a little bit of size advantage at some positions,” he added, “it’s pretty comparable to the Philippines so now it’s a lot more competitive on that end. The Filipino teams can definitely challenge us any night.”
That’s why Blankley has been taking on a much bigger role this time as he’s now seen as one of their leaders, given his experience in the PBA.
And, perhaps, in juggling a busy schedule, too, for Eastern have themselves a tough 2024-25 calendar playing in the PBA, in the home-and-away East Asia Super League, and in the Hong Kong A1 Division back home.
But as challenging as it appears, the 24-year-old swingman is proud of how willing his teammates have been embracing this whole experience together.
“I think everyone’s ready for this kind of challenge,” he said. “This is some of the guys’ first experience outside of Hong Kong and in playing different competitions so props to them for being willing to learn and ready to adjust and stuff.”
