Tiu pumped up with Strong Group team

Dwight Howard (left) and Andray Blatche AFP/FIBA PHOTOS

FILIPINO coach Charles Tiu will be in a race against time as he tries to mesh a Strong Group side that is bannered by “super imports” led by NBA veteran Dwight Howard, former Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Andray Blatche and former Oklahoma City Thunder wingman Andre Roberson.

Lending his vast international coaching experience is Australia men’s basketball coach Brian Goorjian, who has been tapped as the team’s consultant.

While the 6-foot-10 Howard, a former NBA Slam Dunk champion, is expected to dominate when Strong Group tries to compete for the championship in the 2024 Dubai International Basketball Tournament starting January 19, a big question is whether Blatche is in game shape.

The Manila Times asked Tiu how the 37-year-old Blatche is, and he replied this way: “We will try to find out. He (Blatche) hasn’t played since we won.”

Of course, by saying “we won,” Tiu was referring to the 2020 edition of the tournament in Dubai, when the team he coached, then backed by Mighty Sports, bagged the championship.

Blatche and Renaldo Balkman, two former NBA players, led the Charles Tiu-coached Mighty Sports in that tournament and defeated Al Riyadi in the final day of competition.

While Blatche’s condition is still a question mark, Tiu is excited with the idea that he can pick the brain of Goorjian, who is considered as the most successful coach in Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL).

Goorjan won six NBL titles and was named Coach of the Year six times.

“I am excited to have Brian on board. It’s something we’ve talked about the whole year. He came and helped us a little bit last year while he was here and we have a really good friendship,” Tiu said.

“We talk all the time. I want to learn from him. That’s why I asked him to come and join us and thankfully, he was available and more than willing. He’s pumped up to be coming here,” he added.

Providing defensive energy for Strong Group is Roberson, the 32-year-old American, who during the 2017 season, was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Among the local players in the team are UAAP Season 86 Most Valuable Player Kevin Quiambao, who led La Salle recently to the UAAP men’s basketball championship; University of the Philippines playmaker JD Cagulangan, La Salle’s Francis Escandor and St. Benilde’s Allen Liwag, Justine Sanchez and Tony Ynot.