OKINAWA – Brian Goorjian admitted to feeling disappointed with the East Asia Super League’s (EASL) recent decision to disband Bay Area.
The veteran mentor said that he was all set to rejoin the Dragons for the upcoming season beginning with the Season 48 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, thus his surprise when the league suddenly pulled the plug on its house team.
“It was a shock ’cause I was ready to jump to that,” said Goorjian during the postgame presser of Australia’s 100-84 win over Georgia to close out their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 campaign Sunday at the Okinawa Arena here.
“I’m taking the high road on that. But, really disappointed about the Bay Area Dragons because it was a special group of guys, and a really exciting young team.”
A report by Tiebreaker Times said that the EASL, an entity that’s still attempting to become the main club competition in this part of the continent, held a meeting last Friday to inform members of the Bay Area regarding the disbandment.
The decision was abrupt, since the team had already commenced its preparations for their campaign beginning in October in the PBA.
Goorjian himself was part of the meeting, which took place mere hours before the Boomers’ crucial tiff against Slovenia. They lost, 91-80, kissing goodbye to their hopes of winning a medal after finishing fourth in the 2019 Worlds.
The 70-year-old was the first — and only — head coach of the Hong Kong-based team. He steered it to a runner-up finish in the 2022 Commissioner’s Cup, and then to third place in the EASL Champions Week last March also here.
But as hard as it was to see what he helped build get torn apart in a snap, Goorjian simply chose to look at the brighter side of things.
He no longer has to pull off another juggling act, as the decorated coach can now focus solely on Australia and their buildup for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“As I waited up, its a positive right now because the Olympics are close and I can spend some time now watching the NBL games, watching the NBA games, and have a total focus on this last shot,” said Goorjian.
“Having a little break for me, I’ve done a year-round for a long period of time — China, right and then coming in doing the Olympic team. So I haven’t had [any break]. Now I get like an eight-month, nine-month break just to focus on getting better and the Boomers team,” he added.
