Blackwater is bound for Dubai soon as part of its efforts to build off the lessons gained from a promising campaign in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup.
The Bossing will play in the International Basketball Championship on August 20-27 at the Maktoum bin Mohammed Indoor Hall at Shabab Al Ahli Club.
“It just goes to show that the management is hell-bent to improve from this conference,” said head coach Ariel Vanguardia.
“We improved this conference, and we’d like to improve some more going into the next one.”
The Dioceldo Sy-owned ball club is coming off a quarterfinal finish in the ongoing all-Filipino wars, which was their first playoff run since 2019.
Vanguardia himself said that he wants to have a consistent playoff contender at his disposal, and there’s no better way to start than playing in the Dubai meet, which is also part of their buildup for the Commissioner’s Cup.
Blackwater will field the same squad that played in the Philippine Cup together with their import — who’s yet to be identified — for the mid-season joust, who’s expected to join the team days before they depart on August 18.
“We’ve made strides, a step in the right direction. The goal now is to win in the playoffs. We’ll maintain this as a playoff-caliber team,” Vanguardia said.
Ten teams are set to compete in the showpiece, with the nine others coming from the Middle East and Africa such as Al-Fateh (Saudi Arabia), Al-Ahli Club (Bahrain), Al-Arabi (Kuwait), and Zamalek SC (Egypt).
Completing the cast are Al-Hikma (Lebanon), Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo (Syria), AS Sale (Morocco), and Orthodox Club (Jordan).
The 10 ball clubs will be divided into two groups of five, and the top two teams of each pool will advance to the knockout semifinal.
Duly sanctioned by the UAE Basketball Federation, the tournament is organized by the BB Sport Service Company, with the games set to be broadcasted live via Dubai TV, Shariah TV, and Sports Channel.
Vanguardia is also dedicating Blackwater’s forthcoming campaign to the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) based in Dubai.
Aside from giving entertainment through their games, the veteran bench tactician said that he and the Bossing coaches will also organize a basketball clinic for the kids of OFWs during the course of the tourney.
“Ito ay pag-saludo namin sa ating mga kababayang OFW, bilang dati rin akong OFW,” said Vanguardia, who coached the Westports Malaysia Dragons from 2011-16 in a stint highlighted by an ABL title run in 2015.
Vanguardia said that Blackwater could also watch OFW cage leagues and play an exhibition game with them if time will permit.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.</e
