Mighty Sports Philippines has tapped a much-needed big man for its campaign in the 2019 Dubai International Basketball Championship.
The six-foot-eight Troy Rike completes the cast for the Philippine club team, as head coach Charles Tiu told Tiebreaker Times.
During his only season in National University, the Filipino-American posted norms of 6.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
And the versatile big man has always been on Tiu’s radar.
“I’ve eyed Troy for a while. I actually wanted to get him to play for me in the D-League [Go for Gold Scratchers] even last year, but it did not work out. He’s shown some flashes of what he can do playing in college basketball,” the youthful head coach said about the 23 for 2023 Gilas cadet.
“Obviously this league is at a different level, but my only expectations are for him to be able to give my imports a breather,” he added.
“He’s a smart guy and a good team guy which I feel is very important for the team. We think he can provide us with quality minutes and he will provide us with more size especially since we aren’t that big of a team.”
Rike joins imports Lamar Odom, Justin Brownlee, and Randolph Morris to man the frontline of Mighty Sports. Also joining them are ex-Ginebra player Jett Manuel; Gab Banal; Joseph Yeo; University of the Philippines playmaker Juan Gomez de Liaño; La Salle forward Santi Santillan; College of Saint Benilde’s Justin Gutang; and Fil-Ams Jeremiah Gray and Adam Roosevelt.
With this group, Tiu believes that they can put up a brave stand in the desert of Dubai.
“I’m relatively happy with the lineup. There’s a good mix of veterans and young players.
“There were some guys that I wanted to get but just couldn’t work things out with them due to school requirements and other factors but we will try to make do with what we have,” he expressed.
