WITH his efforts to the Strong Group Athletics (SGA) in their previous tournament, Chris McCullough surely deserves another chance to represent the Philippines in an international competition.
Strong Group made a last-minute adjustment to their already stacked squad for the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship, which will be held from January 29 to February 2, 2025, replacing Terry Larrier.
Perfect Choice
With only a few days until the competition begins, it would be a no-brainer to add someone who is already familiar with the system used by the Frank Lao-owned squad’s head coach, Charles Tiu.
“Thankfully, he decided to play for us again. He just wanted to hoop,” said the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Blazers tactician.
“He was the one who found ways to get permission to play for us, and it says a lot about him wanting to play for the Philippines. We’ve got a good relationship, and I’m so looking forward to working with him again,” Tiu added.
In the 2024 William Jones Cup, the former San Miguel import led the same squad to a championship, earning MVP honors with averages of 21.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks.
Let’s bounce back
Keeping in mind their tragic loss in the 2024 Dubai tilt Finals, the SGA is more than ready to rebound from the buzzer-beating loss to Al Riyadi, 77-74.
“We left no stones unturned in assembling this team. From the coaching staff to the roster, every decision was made with the goal of giving our country another historic championship,” SGA President Jacob Lao said.
McCullough’s return to the lineup, together with former NBA players DeMarcus Cousins, Malachi Richardson, and former naturalized player Andray Blatche, should lead to a successful season.
Rhenz Abando, Dave Ildefonso, Mikey Williams, Jason Brickman, Ange Kouame, NCAA MVP Allen Liwag, Tony Ynot, and Justine Sanchez round out the bench.
Strong Group’s campaign will begin on Friday, January 24, against the Dubai National Team at 11:00 p.m. (Manila time). Al Nasr is also scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 a.m. as part of their group assignments.
Amman will be next on Tuesday at 1:00 a.m., followed by Beirut on Thursday at the same time. The top four teams will proceed to the crossover quarterfinals of the Dubai tournament.
How useful was this post?
Click on a star to rate it!
Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0
No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.
We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!
Let us improve this post!
Tell us how we can improve this post?