AS Cholo Villanueva talked about how he ended up in the Bay Area bench after the Dragons’ 94-92 win over San Miguel in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals on Wednesday night, Glen Yang butted in the interview and pointed to their Filipino assistant coach.

“He’s the real MVP,” the Dragons star guard beamed.

After all, while the spotlight has been on imports Andrew Nicholson and Myles Powell and locals Kobey Lam, Yang and Co., it’s a Filipino who has been the Hong Kong-based guest team’s secret weapon in its run to the championship round of the midseason tournament.

Cholo Villanueva: Dragons’ secret weapon

The Dragons have an ace up their sleeve in Villanueva, who knows a thing or two about the PBA brand of basketball, having played in the league in the early 2010s before transitioning into a PBA assistant coach.

“It’s bittersweet for me, because syempre I’m Filipino, but now I’m part of this Dragons family, so I do everything I can to help this team win,” Villanueva said. “And of course, we want to represent the Bay Area Dragons in the PBA at the highest level.”

In preparation for their PBA entry, the Dragons looked for a PBA insider who can give them an edge.

They found one in Villanueva, a proud La Salle product who became the 13^th overall pick in the 2008 PBA Draft, suiting up for Burger King/Air21 from 2008 to 2011, before starting his coaching career from there as part of the Express staff.

“When they got in touch with me, we hit it off right away,” Villanueva said of Bay Area head coach Brian Goorjian and top deputy Bill Tomlinson.

“I’m learning a lot from this organization, from coach Brian,” he added, being under contract until next year. “It’s a different perspective of basketball na I think I can bring to my local teams. So it’s a very tremendous opportunity for me na to be part of this coaching staff and this team.”

The current coach of Batangas-Tanduay in the MPBL and the La Salle Lady Archers in the UAAP, as well as the program director of the La Salle Greenhills basketball team, Villanueva is now responsible for making the Dragons familiar with their PBA counterparts, equipping the guest team with knowledge of the tendencies of PBA players.

“I know how they play, how the pace of their game is. So more on the defensive side,” the 40-year-old mentor said, proving his coaching acumen by being the man behind the Lady Archers’ monumental victory that snapped National University’s 108-game win streak.

After hearing the cheers when he was still playing, Villanueva can sure feel like a villain as part of the guest team in enemy territory.

Villanueva knows how the hostility can wake up the sleeping Dragons.

“Parang Philippines vs China yung itsura lagi eh when we’re in an arena,” he said with a chuckle. “They just thrive in that kind of pressure.”

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Expect it to intensify in the finals against crowd darling Barangay Ginebra.

“Kinuwento ko na sa kanila, if San Miguel was tough, Ginebra’s going to be way tougher,” Villanueva said. “They’re coached by the winningest coach in the PBA and they’re a champion team. For us, we have the challenger’s mentality na of course, when you enter in any kind of competition, you want to be the best team in the end. You want to win your last game.

“So we’re up for the challenge,” he added. “It’s going to be a juggernaut challenge for us, pero this team is thriving though the pressure, through the adversities.”

And it’s nothing personal.

“Dapat proud sila na merong Pilipino na staff nitong organization na ‘to,” Villanueva said. “And just learning a lot from this kind of basketball perspective na I can bring to whichever team na I’m coaching now.”

“I’m representing the Filipinos well in this organization,” he concluded.