Strong Group Athletics has added more firepower to its roster for the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship.
The team on Saturday announced that reigning UAAP Most Valuable Player Kevin Quiambao and sweet-shooting Davao City pride Francis Escandor of De La Salle University will join the team, along with their coach in Topex Robinson.
They have also tapped the College of St. Benilde trio of Allen Liwag, Tony Ynot, and Justine Sanchez.
“DLSU just won the college championship, so it made sense for us to bring in some of their players and merge them with ours at Benilde,” said Strong Group coach Charles Tiu, also the mentor of the Blazers in the NCAA. “After all, we are One La Salle.”
Strong Group earlier announced that they recruited Dwight Howard, Andray Blatche, Andre Roberson and McKenzie Moore as their imports for the tournament.
Howard, Blatche, Roberson, Goorjian to reinforce Strong Group in Dubai
This will be Quiambao’s second time to play in the Dubai tournament, as he was also part of the Strong Group team that finished in the quarterfinals a year ago.
This year’s competition is set for January 19 to 28, 2024, at Al Nasr Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“Super happy na mapasama ulit sa team knowing yung roster is super loaded and talented. Yung gutom na makabawi is nandiyan para sa ‘min dahil yung league nga na sasalihan natin is best of the best,” said Quiambao, who led the Green Archers to the UAAP Season 86 championship.
“Bibigay ko yung best ko every game and kung anong matutulong ko sa team para makuha yung goal natin na magchampion, gagawin ko,” he added.
Robinson will join Tiu’s staff, which also has Brian Goorjian serving as team consultant.
“I’ve talked with Coach Topex about working together in the past, even before he got the DLSU job. We are good friends, and I am sure he will add a lot of value to us. He is a champion coach,” said Tiu.
Tiu also expects Escandor to play a key role for their team, saying: “Escandor is a good shooter, and we need a guy like him who can spot up and knock down shots since most of the teams will be focused on defending imports.”
Meanwhile, the Dubai tournament figures to be a baptism of fire for Tiu’s players in St. Benilde ahead of the NCAA Season 100 tournament.
“We also wanted to give our newest Benilde recruits the experience of playing overseas and competing at a high level. So, we decided to include Ynot, Sanchez, and Liwag,” he explained.
“They will have to fight for their minutes as they also play the same position as our imports. But this is good for their overall growth as players and is part of my thrust at CSB to continue developing guys as much as we can,” he added.
