SGA braces for rough Jones Cup campaign

Strong Group Athletics (SGA) will have most of the players from last year’s triumphant team as they gear up for the title defense in the 44th William Jones Cup from 12 to 20 July at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City.

With only a short window to prepare, SGA head coach Charles Tiu told DAILY TRIBUNE that continuity will be key as they gun for back-to-back titles.

After the Taiwanese whipped Gilas Pilipinas, 91-84, in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers last February, Tiu said they have their work cut out for them as they expect a tougher rival compared to last year.

“We wanted to try to have some continuity especially with short preparation,” Tiu said in an online conversation.

“Taiwan is a great team and they’ve improved so much. We have to study how we played them and how Gilas played them too.”

Leading the charge for SGA are Kiefer Ravena, Jason Brickman, Dave Ildefonso, Rhenz Abando, Angelo Kouame, Geo Chiu, and reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association Most Valuable Player Allen Liwag.

Without Ravena in the squad when SGA goes up against Chinese Taipei-A on 13 July and Japan U25 on 14 July, Tiu vows they will be able to find a way to come out on top.

“The big challenge is that we’ll be facing Taipei A in our very first game, and we haven’t played any tune-up games yet. We’ll have to see how quickly the team can gel. Kiefer will also miss a couple of games, but we’re definitely looking to defend our crown,” Tiu said.

Another familiar face in Andre Roberson will beef up the squad as well as 6-foot-6 guard DJ Fenner and 6-foot-9 big man Tajuan Agee.

Tiu said getting Roberson, a National Basketball Association (NBA) journeyman, on board was easy thanks to his previous SGA stint last year at the Dubai International Basketball Championship.

Roberson, Andray Blatche, and NBA star Dwight Howard led SGA to the final of the Dubai tilt last year before losing the crown to Al Riyadi, 74-77.