Myles Powell believes that Bay Area is ready for the ‘big change’ coming as the team switches imports for its fifth game of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The Dragons will face Barangay Ginebra on Sunday night with Andrew Nicholson in tow, making the change based on the set-up agreed upon with the league where the guest team will play the former NBA cagers one at a time.
After utilizing the high-scoring guard in its first four games, the squad will now go with the 6-foot-10 center until its eighth match of the mid-season conference before choosing who to stick with for the rest of the campaign.
“It’s gonna be a big change on Sunday with me going out,” said Powell after Bay Area’s 106-100 win over Converge, Friday. “I feel like we’re gonna be ready.”
Powell was a big reason why the Dragons are sitting atop the standings with a perfect 4-0 record, with averages of a league-leading 35.8 points on a 44-percent shooting clip, on top of 8.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.8 steals.
It will surely be a challenge for the crew without its unquestioned star, but head coach Brian Goorjian looks at it as a chance for the other guards to step up and prove that they can fill in the void to be left by the 23-year-old.
If it’s any indication, their win over the FiberXers showed that his wards are capable. Glen Yang turned in his best performance thus far, registering a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds with five assists.
Then there was Zhu Songwei, who tallied 20 points and five boards. The two not only provided ample support for Powell — who fired 33 markers — but made it the first time that three Bay Area players scored 20 in one game.
“With our team, it puts a lot of pressure, with Myles, on our frontline, on our bigs. Now, players like Kobey Lam and some of these bench guys are going to be much more important when you take a guard of Myles’ ability out of it.
“For us to win, we’re going to need performance out of some players that we haven’t depended on with having Myles here. So, it’s a good challenge for us and a good opportunity,” said the world-renowned mentor.
“We’re trying to bleed these guys and get ready for the EASL. Our guards now are going to get a good look,” Goorjian furthered.
Powell, for his part, hopes to see the other backcourt players seize the moment as they all aim to develop into a cohesive unit moving forward.
“We’re gonna need a couple of guys off the bench to step up at the guard play,” he said.
“We just gotta keep building every day. Every day is about taking steps forward. It’s not about the other team, it’s about us getting better.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
