MIGHTY Sports head coach Charles Tiu admitted he braced for the worst heading to his team's debut in the 2020 Dubai International Basketball Tournament.
With Mighty given barely two weeks to prepare for the tournament, Tiu acknowledged that there were times that the Philippine club will have to rely mostly on talent alone to pull through in games against cohesive teams.
The situation is far from ideal, but Tiu knows he has no option but to keep faith in his youth-laden team.
"I have to be a bit more patient because this is technically our first game together," he said after Mighty pulled off an 88-82 victory over the UAE national team bolstered by Lebanese great Fadi El-Khatib on Thursday.
"We were complete for the first time in our shootaround last night," he added.
Lucky for Mighty and Tiu, Fil-Am guard Mikey Williams picked the right time to step up, pouring in 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, including the crucial trey that put the Filipinos up, 82-78, with 1:14 remaining.
He also had eight assists and six rebounds, earning the praise of the youthful mentor.
"Mikey is great. As I said, I have complete trust in him," said Tiu.
Tiu hopes to draw more contributions from his other young guns as Mighty looks to put up a better performance when it faces Lebanese side Al Ittihad of Aleppo at 11 p.m. on Friday.
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