STRONG Group is banking on its sixth man — overseas Filipino workers in Dubai — to provide the much-needed boost when it battles an expected tough field in the 32nd Dubai International Championship beginning Jan. 27.
All bags are packed and ready to go as the Jacob Lao-owned basketball club flies to Dubai in two batches, with the first leaving today, Wednesday, and the second on Thursday.
Strong Group coach Charles Tiu said they will need all the help they can get from Filipinos in Dubai, especially when they go up against top Middle East teams, including Lebanese squads the youthful mentor said poses a huge threat to the country’s aspirations for a second-straight title in the tournament.
“We definitely need the Filipino fans to come out and support us there. They’ve been our sixth man every time and we need every single one of them,” said Tiu, who guided Mighty Sports to the title in the same tourney three years ago.
“All the Lebanese teams will be tough. Al-Riyadi, of course, who we played in the championship the last time we joined, and in the semifinals the year before that. Beirut Lebanon and Dynamo Lebanon are all tough. And then we have teams from Tunisia, Morocco and Iraq,” he added.
Strong Group is grouped with Dynamo-Lebanon in Group A, along with the UAE national team, Al-Wahda from Syria and Al-Nasr from Libya.
Strong Group opens its campaign against the UAE national team on Jan. 27 before taking on Al-Nasr Libya the next day and Al-Wahda on Sunday, Jan. 29. It wraps up the group stage against Dynamo-Lebanon Wednesday next week.
The team will play without Ange Kouame, who was dropped from the lineup after suffering from Dengue.
“It will be tough without Ange. It changes everything for us. We built this team knowing we would have him, and his absence is really a game changer,” said Tiu.
In Kouame’s place, Tiu said the team tried to tap the services of Justin Brownlee and Andray Blatche but both were not available due to conflict of schedules. Trying to fill in for Kouame is La Salle forward Kevin Quiambao.
Bannering the squad are former NBA stars Nick Young and Shabazz Mohammad along with Fil-American guard Sedrick Barefield, Justine Baltazar, and Will Gozum.
Also in the team are Jerom Lastimosa and JD Cagulangan, Francis Lopez, BJ Andrade, Migs Oczon and Inand Fornillos.
