Strong Group is set to leave Manila a little before midnight on Wednesday to jumpstart its redemption tour against a powerhouse cast of competitors in the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship at the Al Nasr Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Headed by eight-time National Basketball Association All-Star Dwight Howard and former Gilas Pilipinas star Andray Blatche with Charles Tiu as head coach, the Filipino club will be taking a nine-hour flight to Dubai via Emirates at 11:30 p.m.
Upon arrival, they are expected to have a light workout on Thursday in preparation for the opening of hostilities on Friday against the national team of the United Arab Emirates.
Its 11:15 p.m. (Manila time) battle against the Emiratis will be challenging for Strong Group.
UAE is coming off an impressive run in the Arab Nations Cup in Egypt last week. The Emiratis made it as far as the semifinals before bowing to the home team, 78-114.
DeMarco Dickerson, a United States-born playmaker who played in the NBA G League, is tipped to carry the fight for the Emiratis after averaging 21.7 points and five rebounds in the Arab Nations Cup.
Tiu, who led College of Saint Benilde to back-to-back Final Four appearances in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, said they are bracing for tough battles from teams whom they already faced in the past couple of years.
“These are the same pieces that I’ve been playing in this tournament for the past five years or so,” said Tiu, who also mentored Mighty Sports to the title in 2020 with former Philippine Basketball Association import Renaldo Balkman as reinforcement.
But last year, Tiu and the Strong Group fell prey in the quarterfinals, making this year a redemption tour for the Filipino stalwarts.
After the UAE, Strong Group will tackle Al-Wahda Damascus of Syria at 9:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Al-Wahda Damascus, a 10-time Syrian Basketball League champion, will be led by American center Isaac Banks, who averaged 16 points and 11.5 rebounds in his past two games.
Strong Group will also face Homenetmen Beirut on Sunday before confronting another Lebanese club in Beirut Club on 24 January.
Strong Group will wrap up its preliminaries assignments against Al Ahly Tripoli Sports Club, which is powered by Puerto Rican guard Walter Hodge and American forward Nick West, on 25 January for a victory that will boost their morale heading into the knockout stages.
“There are four Lebanese teams with their national players. All their imports will also be there so it’s going to be a really stack competition,” Tiu added.
Aside from Howard and Blatche, Strong Group will also bank on former NBA campaigner Andre Roberson and McKenzie Moore as well as local stars Kevin Quiambao, Justin Baltazar, Francis Escandor, JD Cagulangan and Jordan Heading.
Rounding out the roster will be College of Saint Benilde standouts Justine Sanchez, Tony Ynot and Allen Liwag with Olympic bronze medalist Brian Goorjian of Australia, Topex Robinson and TY Tang as deputies.
Tiu said their goal is to win the title.
“Modesty aside, we definitely want to win the championship right now,” said Tiu, who cut his teeth assisting Serbian guru Rajko Toroman at Gilas Pilipinas.
“I think we didn’t have such a great run last year, you know, with all of a sudden Ange Kouame got sick and missed the tournament and that changed everything.”
“I mean, the team was composed based on having a seven-footer so right now, our goal is to stay healthy and win the championship.”
