Strong Group Athletics out to maintain impressive start in Dubai tilt | Sports Desk
All eyes are on Strong Group Athletics. The stacked Philippine squad is off to a terrific start in the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship.
Can they sustain this impressive run and ultimately win it all?
Joining us to go all out on this story is Strong Group head coach Charles Tiu. He joins us from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Helping us out in the studio is basketball analyst Juan Banal.
Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/
Follow our social media pages:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines
Can they sustain this impressive run and ultimately win it all?
Joining us to go all out on this story is Strong Group head coach Charles Tiu. He joins us from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Helping us out in the studio is basketball analyst Juan Banal.
Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/
Follow our social media pages:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:08 All eyes are on Strong Group Athletics or SGA.
00:11 The Stack Philippines squad is off to a terrific start
00:15 in the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship.
00:18 Now, can they sustain this impressive run
00:21 and ultimately win it all?
00:22 Well, let's find out.
00:23 Joining us to go all out on this story
00:25 is none other than Strong Group head coach, the man, Charles
00:31 Thieu.
00:32 Joining us live via Zoom all the way from Dubai in the United
00:35 Arab Emirates.
00:37 And it is 4.32 PM there.
00:39 So good afternoon to you, Coach Charles.
00:41 And helping us out live inside the studio
00:44 is basketball analyst, Juan Banal.
00:46 He's also here.
00:48 Our director will show Juan in just a bit.
00:50 There he is.
00:51 So now a three-way with one B up top.
00:54 Charles Thieu down there.
00:56 Coach Charles, good afternoon and good evening from Manila.
01:01 Hello, Andre.
01:02 Hello, Juan.
01:03 Thanks for having me over.
01:04 Thank you for taking time, Coach.
01:06 I know you're a very, very busy guy, especially there.
01:08 Congratulations, first of all.
01:10 Juan B, [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] and welcome back, my friend.
01:13 Thank you for being here.
01:14 Thanks for having me.
01:14 As always.
01:15 Hey, Coach Charles.
01:16 How are you?
01:16 Best.
01:17 Thank you.
01:17 OK.
01:19 You can chime in any time, Juan B. Coach,
01:21 congratulations again for winning your first three games.
01:25 What is it like to start?
01:27 You're as good as advertised with the team that you have.
01:31 Dwight Howard, Andre Robertson, Andre Blatch, McKenzie Moore,
01:35 Kevin Kimball, and the whole team with you at the helm.
01:39 How is it like, Coach Charles, being
01:41 the man, the head coach of this superb collection of talent?
01:47 I think it's been great so far.
01:49 It's been a great experience for me, obviously.
01:51 It helps that we're winning, so we're all enjoying having fun.
01:54 But I guess for us, the real fun starts now,
01:58 because these are the--
02:00 our next two games are the toughest teams in our group.
02:03 After that, we will have our quarterfinals match
02:06 after a day off.
02:07 So it's going to get harder from here.
02:09 It was rough playing three games back to back to back.
02:12 It's not easy.
02:13 And it's not something that the guys have been used to.
02:15 These guys haven't really played in some time.
02:18 I'm talking about our imports.
02:19 But yeah, Dwight's been great.
02:21 Kevin Kimball has been fantastic.
02:23 And the rest of the squad have really been helping us out.
02:28 Well, Coach, you guys have been playing well, but not just
02:31 because of your heavy reinforcements,
02:34 but because your locals also have been playing solid.
02:38 Of course, KQ, Kevin Kimball, Justin Balty,
02:41 Baltazar, Jordan Heading.
02:43 Your thoughts on how well this group, considering the time
02:47 that you guys only had to--
02:49 I think that was one of your biggest concerns,
02:51 chemistry, having everybody fit in the system and to jive well.
02:56 How will KQ play with Dwight Howard or Balty
03:01 with Andre Blatch, Heading coming in,
03:04 playing with an Andre Robertson?
03:07 Were you surprised, your thoughts,
03:09 on how the locals have also been gelling well
03:12 with your reinforcements, Coach?
03:15 I think it's been a great group of guys so far, to be honest.
03:18 Chemistry-wise, off the court, we're
03:20 pretty solid, even our foreign coaches, Coach Brian,
03:23 Coach Ryko, who's here, too, are impressed with the chemistry
03:27 the guys have shown.
03:28 And it's a testament to our imports,
03:30 too, that they've just been one of the guys.
03:34 You don't have to treat them like any other superstar.
03:36 And the guys are all having fun.
03:38 But of course, on the court, we still
03:40 have to improve in a lot of different ways.
03:42 I mean, it's their first time playing together,
03:45 so we're still adjusting and figuring each other out.
03:47 And hopefully, we can just keep getting better.
03:50 I think we're trending in the right way, at least.
03:53 But we'll see, because we always have a target in our back.
03:57 That last minute against the Hohmann men of Lebanon,
04:01 I thought they played really well.
04:02 And we had our backs against the wall.
04:04 But the guys, Doug Deeb, Blatch, played well.
04:06 And we were able to escape with the win.
04:08 But we need those games to really help us improve as a team.
04:13 Yeah, hi, Charles.
04:15 Congratulations thus far on what you've achieved already
04:18 with your team.
04:20 But I'm interested to know, given
04:23 that you may win this all the way,
04:25 what does this mean for your organization, the Strong Group
04:28 Athletics, and the impact that it has, the statement
04:30 that you're trying to make?
04:31 We know that they're making waves in the local scenes
04:33 here in the Philippines.
04:34 But to be on an international stage,
04:36 what does that mean for your group
04:38 and the statement of the organization?
04:42 Well, I mean, personally for us, for us coaches at least,
04:45 we're just-- we're not looking past the quarterfinals
04:48 even.
04:49 We're not looking past our game tonight.
04:50 We have to take care of business first.
04:52 And we have to find a way to make it to the finals first.
04:54 But obviously, if we'd be able to win it all,
04:57 it would mean a lot to our organization.
04:59 We're up and coming.
05:00 A lot of people have been talking about us.
05:02 Our bosses have a lot of big plans.
05:05 So many people want to come and play for our team.
05:07 And hopefully, we can have other tournaments
05:10 where we could really compete in in the future.
05:13 But yeah, it's great.
05:14 It's a good sign.
05:14 It's only the-- technically, our second tournament
05:18 with this group.
05:19 So it's going to be interesting moving forward.
05:22 But yeah, we've been trying to grow the whole program.
05:24 And hopefully, we can also make an impact internationally
05:27 as we have locally.
05:28 But our boss, Boss Frank, has been
05:30 really supportive of the local basketball
05:33 and the Philippine scene.
05:35 Coach, as we all know, Dwight Howard
05:36 loves to have fun off the court.
05:38 We've seen his vlogs, his videos.
05:40 He's just all over.
05:41 He's such a social media butterfly.
05:45 But how is he like during those high-pressure games,
05:50 just like the one you had against Home In It Men?
05:53 We know he's a fun guy.
05:56 He loves to have fun on the side.
05:58 But being there up close and personal,
06:00 coaching arguably a future NBA Hall of Famer,
06:05 how is it like there?
06:07 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
06:08 [LAUGHS]
06:11 Absolutely.
06:11 He's been so easy to coach.
06:13 In fact, no problem with him at all.
06:16 He listens.
06:17 He asks questions.
06:18 I told him if he has suggestions, feel free to talk.
06:21 He's the most vocal guy on the court.
06:24 He has not sat out one practice.
06:25 He doesn't complain.
06:26 He goes to shoot around.
06:27 Everything's on time, very professional.
06:30 He studies film.
06:31 We give him some film.
06:32 And he's so well-prepared.
06:34 And I guess that's why he's such a great player, why
06:36 he's going to be a surefire NBA Hall of Famer.
06:40 And yesterday, on our day off, he
06:42 spent the whole afternoon just rehabbing his body
06:45 and doing whatever it takes to get ready for the game today.
06:48 So he's been great and so much better than advertised
06:52 for me personally.
06:54 Coach, you got Beirut Sports Club in your next game.
06:57 That will be on Wednesday at 1:15 AM here in the Philippines,
07:01 so a few hours from now.
07:03 What do you know about your next opponent?
07:05 And I'm sure you guys are ready, but from your perspective,
07:09 it gets tougher from here.
07:11 How ready are you to go have a clean record after you
07:15 face Beirut in a few hours?
07:18 I hope we'll still be happy after that game.
07:22 But they're tough.
07:23 They have Ali Haidar, who's the best Lebanese big man.
07:25 They're a lefty big man.
07:26 They have a couple of former national team players.
07:29 They have Dart Tucker, who Filipino fans
07:32 may be familiar with.
07:33 He was the naturalized player of Jordan before.
07:36 They have Cliff Alexander and Archie Goodwin,
07:38 both ex-NBA players, too.
07:40 So they have two ex-NBA players, a third solid import,
07:44 really good local big man.
07:45 And they have a deep team.
07:46 And then it's a bit complicated for us.
07:49 Andre Robertson's hurting a bit, got injured in the last game.
07:53 Andre Blach is also really banged up.
07:55 But you know what?
07:56 No excuses.
07:56 We'll find ways.
07:57 And somebody else has to step up.
07:59 And we'll dig deep and try to win,
08:01 hopefully, if we can find a way to defend them better.
08:04 Coach, before we let you go, the best of luck against Beirut.
08:08 But coach, before we say goodbye,
08:10 me and Juan, I'm sure this is what Juan wants to ask,
08:13 because there are reports on KQ.
08:16 Kevin Quiambao being asked to be naturalized.
08:20 Your thoughts, we want to get inside info from yourself,
08:24 from Charles Stew.
08:25 What do you know about that, coach?
08:26 Kevin Quiambao wants to be naturalized by the UAE.
08:31 That is true.
08:32 They actually met with him maybe about an hour ago.
08:34 I just haven't seen him.
08:35 I don't know if he's back yet.
08:36 But yeah, they've--
08:37 Maybe he's there.
08:38 Maybe he's playing there.
08:39 I'm talking to like Coach Brian Gurgen.
08:42 He's like, man, Kevin can really play.
08:43 He's got a great future ahead of him.
08:46 And I mean, there would be way more opportunities for Kevin,
08:50 even a higher level of basketball.
08:51 That's how good we think he is.
08:53 And he's been really impressive.
08:55 So whatever he decides to do, we fully support.
08:58 But yeah, it's exciting for Kevin.
08:59 I hope he can continue his stellar play,
09:02 because yeah, he's going to make waves.
09:03 And to me, he's too good for college basketball.
09:07 He's out of the Philippines already.
09:09 And considering, yes, there are also other offers for KQ
09:13 in Korea and Japan.
09:14 And we're not surprised because of the talent this kid has.
09:18 But he did assure that he'll be back with LaSalle
09:21 for next season.
09:22 Coach, thank you again for your time.
09:24 We miss talking to you.
09:25 Thank you, Coach Charles.
09:26 And the best of luck the rest of the way.
09:28 Go bring home the chip, Coach.
09:30 Good luck against Beirut in a few hours.
09:32 We're rooting for you.
09:33 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
09:34 Coach Charles.
09:35 Thank you.
09:35 Thank you, Andre.
09:36 Thank you, Juan.
09:37 Again, that was Coach Charles Tu, head coach of Strong Group
09:40 Athletics.
09:41 So far, so good in the 33rd Dubai International Basketball