BOCAUE – Bay Area head coach Brian Goorjian was awestruck with the turnout he saw in Game 7 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Sunday night.
The world-renowned mentor admitted that he could only scratch his head as he was before 54,589 screaming souls at the Philippine Arena, easily shattering the league’s attendance record of 54,086 set in 2017 also at the cavernous venue.
“I kept looking up and I was just scratching my head. I haven’t seen anything or been a part of anything like it,” he shared.
Goorjian, though, could only hope that he and the Dragons put up a better outing for the fans. The guest team bowed to Ginebra, 114-99, foiling their attempt of becoming the first foreign club to win a league crown in 43 years.
Nonetheless, being part of a historic title clincher was an ‘incredible experience’ for the champion bench tactician, one that they will all cherish forever.
“It’s just an incredible experience. It’s something I’ll never forget. Right now, it’s a disappointment. I would’ve loved to put up a better game for the crowd, but it is what it is, and like I said, we’ll lick our wounds and fight back,” he said.
Goorjian is also sticking to the silver linings despite falling short of winning the crown, saying that Bay Area will only learn from it especially when they compete in the East Asia Super League (EASL) competitions in March.
“You learn a lot about your team and I think the team learned a lot,” said the 69-year-old, who was given the keys to the franchise last May. “We have a younger group that has never experienced anything like this.”
Furthermore, regardless of the result, Goorjian offered that Bay Area’s participation not only bode well for the Hong Kong-based ball club itself, but also for the Filipino pro league and in this region in particular.
After all, the incumbent Australia Boomers head coach is a firm believer that exposure to international competition is always key to growth.
“The whole reason why I left Australia is I believe in this, that you need international competition,” offered the Olympic bronze medalist.
“The Philippines needs it, this whole region needs it. For Gilas, for these teams, these players are gonna be better, our players are gonna be better, and the region will become better by playing against teams like this.
“And I hope in some way… tonight was a bad one, but we brought something to this that is unique as well. And I think international competition is what this league is missing. And if Gilas is gonna medal, their local players need these kinds of competitions. If you ask me, I think it’s good for them. It’s been tremendous for our guys,” added Goorjian.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
