THE Strong Group Athletics is bent on retaining its Jones Cup championship this year.
The team tapped former NBA player Boban Marjonovic to reinforce the team in its title retention bid next month.
Charles Tiu, who steered SGA to the Jones Cup title for the second year in a row in 2025, helped facilitate the hiring of the 7-foot-4 Serbian as one of the team's imports in the August 8-23 tournament to be held in Taiwan.
Last year, SGA completed an eight-game sweep of the meet led by import Andre Roberson.
Following the feat, expectations are definitely high on the 37-year-old Boban, who previously suited up for San Antonio, LA Clippers, Detroit, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Houston.
The Philippines is group with Chinese Taipei Blue, South Korea, and Japan as it bids to win a third straight championship in the annual meet named in honor of the first ever FIBA secretary general.
Twice, Boban played against Gilas Pilipinas in the past as part of the Serbian national team.
He first faced the Filipinos during the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, and then during the 2021 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade.
Tiu even had a reel of Boban pinned on his X account (formerly Twitter) thanking the Filipino people for their support while gesturing a love emoji along with members of the Gilas cadets.
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