Strong Group, target bawiin ang korona sa 43rd Jones Cup

Transcript

00:00The Strong Group Athletics are ready to play their part in the upcoming 43rd William Jones Cup this month.

00:09Before they left for Taipei, Taiwan on July 12,

00:13the team joined a practice session this Tuesday night.

00:18Here's Rafael Bandayrel.

00:20The Philippines has its own version of the Redeem Team in the upcoming 43rd edition of the William Jones Cup.

00:32The lineup of the Strong Group Athletics is star-studded.

00:37The country's flag will be waving in the said tournament.

00:41The SGA's campaign is led by star guards Narenz Abando and Kiefer Ravena.

00:48As part of the GILAS-Philippines roster that competed in the FIBA Basketball World Cup last year,

00:55the two are happy to be given another chance to give pride to the country.

01:01It's a great feeling to represent the Philippines.

01:04Even though we're playing for a different team, we're still representing our country as Filipinos.

01:14Whether it's with SGA or GILAS, we're still representing the Philippines when we go to the Jones Cup.

01:19You'll still see the Philippine flag there.

01:22Jordan Hedding is the sharp shooting guard.

01:25His new teammates are excited to play.

01:28I think this team is really deep.

01:31We got a lot of, obviously, a couple of great inputs, but really deep, talented locals this time around.

01:37I'm really excited just to play with some of these guys.

01:40I've played with a bunch of them before.

01:42And a few of them, like Renz, I've never played with him before.

01:45And a few of these other guys, like Kaelin.

01:47I'm really excited just to get on the court with these guys.

01:49Meanwhile, this is the fifth time that Charles Chu will play as the coach of the Philippines in the tournament.

01:56He was also the head coach of the last Philippine team to win the Jones Cup in 2019.

02:02But he admitted that his mission this year won't be easy.

02:06Some of the teams participating are quite strong.

02:09I saw that the Ukrainian national team is going to be there, so that's tough.

02:12There's also an American team.

02:14So, like a pool of 19 to 25-year-olds, which are probably going to be G League guys.

02:20So, the competition is going to be good.

02:22The 43rd edition of the William Jones Cup will be held on July 13 and will end on July 21.

02:30Rafael Pandayrel for Pambansang TV in the new Philippines.