Strong Group Fortifies Dubai Roster After Signing Mikey Williams

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Redemption season is on full track.

After adding former NBA stars Demarcus Cousins and Dwight Howard, PHL-based basketball club Strong Group Athletics signed another huge name and confirmed their reunion with former TNT Tropang Giga guard Mikey Williams for the upcoming 2025 Dubai International Basketball Championship tournament.

The development was announced on January 14, 2025, after Williams arrived in the PHL to join Strong Group in their intensive practice session.

This move also signified that Strong Group already moved on from the past, after Williams ditched them in the 2024 edition of the Dubai hoops tourney.

After initially agreeing to play for the club, Williams received backlash when he was a no-show to the team’s entire training period. That then forced the coaching staff to drop him out of the official lineup days before they flew to Dubai.

Strong Group team manager Jacob Lao then expressed his frustration towards Williams and added that everything was already in place for him to play in Dubai.

Lao also revealed that Williams and Strong Group already agreed regarding his talent fee and already asked what day he have to arrive in the country for the practice.

Now that Williams is back in the lab, Strong Group will now have a formidable backcourt pool, as the daredevil scorer will team up with St. Benilde’s veteran floor general Tony Ynot and Filipino-American Jason Brickman.

Still leading the team on the sidelines is St. Benilde head coach Charles Tiu, to be assisted by DLSU mentor Topex Robinson.

For the locals, the 1-2 punch of Dave Ildefonso and Rhenz Abando will be taking turns filling the small forward spot, alongside NCAA star Justine Sanchez.

The young frontcourt duo of Allen Liwag and Ange Kouame will also be fortifying the roster, together with Gilas Pilipinas legend Andray Blatche.

Strong Group will still have more than a week to prepare before the tournament begins on January 24, 2025, until February 2, 2025.