ANGE Kouame had to be dropped from the lineup due to illness and plans to bring in Justin Brownlee and Andray Blatche fell through but Strong Group is confident it has enough to challenge for the title in the Dubai International Basketball Tournament.
A bout with dengue kept Koaume, a naturalized Filipino citizen from the Ivory Coast, from joining the team, with the tournament set to start on Friday.
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Coach Charles Tiu said the team wanted to tap Justin Brownlee, who is under contract with Barangay Ginebra and is jusit coming off a championship run in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup. Blatche is also unavailable, but Tiu still has a solid lineup led by former NBA players Nick Young and Shabazz Muhammad.
"It's been tough without Ange. It changes everything for us. We built this team knowing we would have had him, and his absence is really a game changer," said Tiu.
The team leaves in two batches starting on Wednesday.
Tiu said the team, which also has Fil-Am Sedrick Barefield, is hoping to get a boost from the Filipino crowd as they go up against tough teams. Strong Group in Pool A with Dynamo-Lebano, the United Arab Emirates national team, Al-Wahda from Syria and Al-Nasr from Libya.
"We definitely need the Filipino fans to come out and support us there. They've been our sixth man every time and we need every single one of them," said Tiu, who guided Mighty Sports to title win three years ago.
"All the Lebanese teams will be tough. Al-Riyadi, of course, who we played in the championship the last time we joined, and in the semifinals the year before that. Beirut Lebanon, Dynamo Lebanon are all tough. And then we have the teams from Tunisia, Morocco and Iraq," he added.
Kevin Quiambao is also in the team along with Justine Baltazar, Will Gozum, Jerom Lastimosa, JD Cagulangan, Francis Lopez, BJ Andrade, Migs Oczon and Inand Fornillos.
They face the UAE national team on Friday before taking on Al-Nasr Libya and Al-Wahda. It wraps up the group stage against Dynamo-Lebanon next week.
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