Mighty likely to get better from 2-day off

MANILA, Philippines — Mighty Sports coach Chris Tiu expects a sharper, more cohesive crew as the Filipino side guns for its third straight win in the Dubai International Basketball Championship Monday night (early Tuesday Manila time) at Shahab Al Alhi Club in the United Arab Emirates.

Tiu’s wards struggled past the Fadi El Khatib-led UAE national team, 88-82, and Syria’s Al Ittihad, 77-72, to start the 11-team tournament but the two-day break should make them a lot better for the duel with fellow unbeaten Es Rades of Tunisia (2-0) at 9 p.m. (1.a.m. on Tuesday in the Philippines).

“We welcomed the two-day off for it gave us ample time to correct the mistakes we did in our past two games,” said Tiu, whose team has only been together for a good two weeks. 

“After running some plays during the break, hopefully we can play much better against the Tunisian club.”

Mighty Sports, which is backed by Creative Pacific of Bong Cuevas, Go for Gold, Oriental Game, Gatorade and Discovery Primea, sets out to bolster its hold of pole position in Group A.

In its opener last Thursday, Mighty banked on Mikey Williams’ late surge to survive the host team, which was led by El Khatib’s 30 markers. The following night, former Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Andray Blatche carried Mighty to victory with his 28-point, 11-rebound outburst.

Team owner Alex Wongchuking finds some positives in the performances of young guns Isaac Go, Dave Ildefonso and Jamie Malonzo, who acquitted themselves well against beefier opponents from Aleppo-based Al Ittihad and contributed a combined 16 to back up Blatche.

“They’re indeed the future of Philippine basketball as they showed great resolve against taller defenders,” said Wongchuking.

The Mighty honcho also looks forward to seeing Thirdy Ravena’s star finally shine.

Ravena, who draws loud cheers from the predominantly Filipino crowd, has been unable to find his range in the first two outings, accounting for only four points.

“He will have his time to shine, there’s no doubt about that,” said Wongchuking.