Tiu believes healthy, full-force Strong Group can win it all in Dubai tilt

MANILA, Philippines – Strong Group Athletics (SGA) head coach Charles Tiu has full faith in his team’s ability to make a deep run in the upcoming 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship, with a handful of former NBA veterans and local young guns leading the way.

After a disappointing outing where they fell out of contention in the quarterfinals of the tournament's previous edition, Tiu believes it is time for redemption.

“Modesty aside, we definitely want to win the championship right now,” said Tiu.

“I think we didn't have such a great run last year you know, with all of a sudden Ange Kouame getting sick and missing the tournament and that changed. I mean, the team was composed based on having a seven footer so right now our goal if we can stay healthy would really be to win the championship.”

Comprising Tiu’s arsenal this time around is a player who helped him bring home the championship a few years back in Andray Blatche. He also has the likes of Dwight Howard, and locals like Kevin Quiambao, JD Cagulangan, and Jordan Heading.

Though only in their third day of training on Wednesday, Tiu believes that the team is slowly coming together and will be fine-tuned in time for their departure to Dubai next week.

“Overall, they're starting to get a feel for each other. [The imports are] starting to know the strengths of our local players too. So it's progressing the right way.” said the coach.

As it stands, Heading is the only player that has yet to join the team’s practice, but is expected to arrive in the coming days.

With a grueling schedule awaiting them in Dubai, Tiu hopes he can count on each and every player in the roster to pick up their slack and bring home the chip.

“We tend to look at the bigger picture. We have seven games in 10 days, so it's not easy on the body.” admitted Tiu. 

“So you know, it might be one game somebody stepping up and another game that's somebody else but so far, the egos have been really good. So that's been good for us guys.”

SGA begins their campaign at the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship on Friday, January 19, at the Al Nasr Club.