Strong Group Athletics (SGA) is a men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team based in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It is owned and managed by an organization of the same name, which was founded by the Filipino

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

Frank Lao. They are not part of any domestic leagues but a frequent participant of international club tournaments such as the

William Jones Cup The William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament (), also known as the William Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in sports, 1977 ...

and the Dubai International Basketball Championship.

History

The Strong Group maintains its own basketball team which has competed in the Dubai International Basketball Championship in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. They debuted in the 2023 edition, with

Mighty Sports Mighty Sports (sometimes referred to as Mighty Sports - Go For Gold for sponsorship reasons) is a basketball team based in the Philippines playing in various domestic tournaments. The team won four championships in the Republica Cup in 2013, 2014 ...

and Acto City sponsoring their stint. Strong Group, coached by

Charles Tiu Charles Alandy-Dy Tiu (born January 11, 1989) is a TV presenter and basketball coach who currently serves as head coach of Benilde Blazers and Strong Group Athletics. He is the brother of Chris Tiu. Coaching career His basketball career ...

, finished as quarterfinalists. They returned in 2024 edition with Tiu reprising his role and backed by

Brian Goorjian Brian Warwick Goorjian (born 28 July 1953) is an American-Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). In an NBL coaching career spanning over 20 y ...

as team consultant. They reached the final, but lost the title to Lebanese club

Al Riyadi Al Riyadi Club Beirut (), commonly known simply as Al Riyadi, is a multi-sports club team based in Manara, a district in Beirut, Lebanon. Founded in 1934, the multi-sports club, which is mainly known for their basketball program, also plays pin ...

. They took part at the 2024 William Jones Cup in 2024 and finished as champions. SGA returned in the 2025 edition of the Dubai tournament. They lost the semifinals against Tunisia and boycotted the third place playoff in protest of the officiating. They will defend their William Jones Cup titlte in 2025.

Current roster

The following is the roster of the Strong Group for the 2025 William Jones Cup. , style="vertical-align:top;" , ; Head coach *

---- ;Legend: *(C) Team captain *(I) Import *Nat. – Flags indicate national team
eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events *Age – describes age
on January 24, 2025

Players

Head coaches

(2023–)

Honors

:: Champions (1):

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

*Dubai International Basketball Championship :: Runner-up (1): 2024

References