Strong Group-Philippines begins its title defense in the 43rd William Jones Cup tonight — and it’s diving straight into the fire.
The reigning champions will face a retooled Chinese-Taipei Blue squad in the main game of Day 2 at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Tip-off is scheduled at 7:00 PM, and will air on PusoP.com.
Just a year ago, Strong Group had to dig deep into overtime to edge out Chinese-Taipei’s A Team, 83-79.
Chinese-Taipei Blue will be led by a pair of NCAA Division I talents — 6-foot-5 Robert Hinton of Harvard Westlake and 6-foot-5 Adam Hinton of Cornell.
Bolstering the home team’s frontline is a new import: 6-foot-9 forward Joof Alasan.
“I wish we had an extra game to prepare for them,” admitted Strong Group head coach Charles Tiu, whose team is supported by Bet88 and United Asia Automotive Group, Inc. “They’ve already had a bit of a warm-up game, but we’ve been following them closely.”
Tiu knows that this Chinese-Taipei squad has significantly improved, especially after its recent showing against Gilas Pilipinas.
“We saw how they played Gilas — they’ve really improved so much. And they have the homecourt advantage, which is definitely a factor,” he added.
“Their core has been solid and playing together for over a year. I expect this to be a much tougher game than last year because they’re just better now, plain and simple.”
Despite the challenge ahead, Strong Group is bringing back a familiar and formidable core.
Suiting up once again are Rhenz Abando, Dave Ildefonso, DJ Fenner, Tajuan Agee, Angelo Kouame, Geo Chiu, and Allen Liwag.
Joining them are reinforcements Andre Roberson, Ian Miller, Jason Brickman, and Javi Gomez de Liaño.
Ildefonso and Chiu will fly to Taiwan on Sunday morning due to their mother club, Abra, playing against Nueva Ecija in the MPBL on Saturday evening.
However, the team will be without star guard Kiefer Ravena for their first two assignments — against Chinese-Taipei and Japan’s developmental team — due to a prior commitment with Jordan Brand in Greece.
Filling in for Ravena is Anthony Roberson, the younger brother of Andre.
The 6-foot-5 guard previously played in the NBA G League for the Oklahoma City Blue and is eager for this rare opportunity to share the court with his brother.
“I’m really excited to play with Strong Group and, more importantly, to finally be on the same team as my brother,” said Anthony. “It’s the first time in our careers we’re doing this, and that makes it really special.
“Just being able to share the floor with this group — especially after seeing how they dominated in Dubai and hearing about their Jones Cup championship—it means a lot,” he added. “I just want to come in, contribute however I can, and enjoy every moment.”
Following Sunday’s opener and Monday’s showdown with Japan, Strong Group is in for a grueling schedule.
Strong Group will face Qatar on Tuesday, Australia’s NBL1 Select Team on Wednesday, Chinese-Taipei’s B Team on Thursday, Malaysia on Friday, Bahrain on Saturday, and the UAE on Sunday to wrap up the week-long tournament.
