Strong Group vs UAE national squad

STRONG Group opens its title campaign in the 32nd Dubai Basketball International Championship against host United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) national team Friday at the Al-nasr Club Hall.

The game—the curtain raiser to the nine-day tournament—is set at 11 p.m. (Manila time) with Strong Group owner Jacob Lao and head coach Charles Tiu hoping to give Filipino migrant workers a spectacle to enjoy.

“We’re looking forward to playing different international teams and we’re excited to showcase our talents to our fans in Dubai and we hope we can live up to their expectations and defend the crown that we came here for,” said Lao, the young team owner who played for University Athletic Association of the Philippines champion Ateneo last season.

The team, Lao said, is determined to keep the crown won by Mighty Sports three years ago.

Mighty Sports and Acto City are backing the team led by National Basketball Association (Nba)-caliber imports Nick Young and Shabazz Muhammad.

Tiu’s minor concern is how soon his players can adjust to the time zone—uae is four hours behind that of Manila—after arriving in Dubai only on Thursday.

“The rest of our team members are arriving 5 p.m. Thursday and we play 7p.m. Friday,” Tiu said. “So it’s a short turnaround plus jet lag. Tight schedule for us but hopefully we can find a way.”

Young, who won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors, is eager to prove he’s still got plenty of gas left in the tank as he tries to hold fort for the team which missed the services of big man Ange Kouame.

“Nick slowly getting there but his knee is a bit banged up. We are a small team basically a college team with some imports against pro teams. Let’s see how it goes,” said added Tiu.