Having played three games in just as many days, fatigue and nagging injuries are starting to get the better of Strong Group-Philippines in the Jones Cup.
Injuries are piling up for Strong Group-Philippines after playing their third game in just as many days in the William Jones Cup, where they seek to become the first Filipino team to go back-to-back in the international tournament in Taiwan.
After taking down Qatar on Tuesday night, SGA head coach Charles Tiu spoke about the nagging injuries that have been plaguing the team in recent days.
“We’re banged up right now,” said Tiu.
“Tajuan [Agee] is hurting, Roberson’s knee is swollen, Ian [Miller]'s plantar is bothering him, and Rhenz [Abando]'s hamstring might keep him out for the Australia game. Even Dave [Ildefonso] and Geo [Chiu] are fighting off illness. Jason [Brickman] is very fatigued as well.”
For any team, the Jones Cup’s punishing schedule is a lot to handle. But more so for SGA, who are still missing main point guard Kiefer Ravena.
While Ravena has been confirmed to have arrived by Wednesday morning, it remains unclear if the veteran will be in game-ready condition by the time Strong Group faces off against Australia at 5:00 p.m. also on Wednesday.
At this point, with five more games remaining on their schedule, Tiu knows that it’ll be an uphill climb.
But with the team displaying great teamwork in the past few games, the tactician can only hope that their heart and pride of being defending champions can haul them all the way to the finish line.
“Only issue right now is our health,” said Tiu.
“But we will keep fighting until the end.” he added.
SGA is currently second in the standings with their 3-0 slate and they are currently half a game behind of tournament leaders Bahrain, who are currently at 4-0.