Same treatment for Dragons, PBA teams

Except for the home court advantage, there will be no special concession for Bay Area when it competes in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner's Cup starting 15 October.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial explained that unlike last year when they were allowed to sparingly use a pair of imports, the Dragons will be given the same treatment as other PBA teams.

With National Basketball Association player Andrew Nicholson and Miles Powell taking turns in serving as imports, the Dragons coasted to the finals of the Commissioner's Cup but fell prey to a more cohesive Barangay Ginebra San Miguel squad bannered by Justin Brownlee.

"We have imports seeing action and they should not exceed 6-foot-9," Marcial said.

"One import only. If they need to change the import, they have to notify the PBA."

Marcial added that the Commissioner's Office will scrutinize all the profiles of the Dragons before deciding whether they will meet the local category, a player that has Asian heritage, or be classified as an import.

"Their local players, they were providing documents. We will know if their parents are based in China or Hong Kong or whether the players were born there," Marcial said.

"Only five players with Asian heritage will be allowed to play."

Marcial, however, explained that they will be more lenient to Bay Area when it comes to scheduling just like TNT Tropang Giga and Ginebra, who will also be seeing action in the East Asia Super League Season 2 from 11 October to 10 March.

"We will adjust with the schedule of Bay Area, TNT and Ginebra," he said.

"For example, if they have a scheduled game in the EASL, we'll give the teams one-week break and they will play consecutive games once they return. We talked about it with TNT and Ginebra as well."

Now based in Hong Kong, the involvement of Bay Area in the PBA will mean that it will have a chance of holding regular games there.

"We're in discussions with Matt Beyer, chief executive officer of the Dragons. We're planning to have three games in Hong Kong, but the negotiations are around 80 percent now and we will also talk about which teams will be playing there," Marcial said.