MANILA — The core of Strong Group-Pilipinas is back as the squad prepares for its title defense at the William Jones Cup scheduled July 12 to 20 in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Kiefer Ravena, Jason Brickman, Dave Ildefonso, Rhenz Abando, Angelo Kouame, Geo Chiu, and reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association Most Valuable Player Allen Liwag are back in the team.
“We’re going all out in defending the country’s William Jones Cup title. With their chemistry and experience, we’re confident in our chances,” Strong Group president Jacob Lao in a statement Saturday.
“More than anything, we want to make the country proud again.”
Also returning are 6-foot-6 guard DJ Fenner and 6-foot-9 Tajuan Agee, both key players in last year’s title campaign.
Retired National Basketball Association defensive specialist Andre Roberson is also back after reinforcing the squad in the 2024 Dubai International Basketball Championship, where the Philippines lost to Al Riyadi of Lebanon in the finals, 74-77.
“Yeah, I’m excited to bring back some guys from our championship squad. This might be the first time we’re able to run it back with this many returning players,” coach Charles Tiu said in a news release.
Ravena, however, will miss the team's first two games -- against Chinese-Taipei Blue on July 13 and the Japan Under-25 Akatsuki Five squad on July 14 -- due to prior commitments in the Japan B. League.
“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. PNA