STRONG Group still appears to be formidable even without 6-foot-11 naturalized player Ange Kouame.
After all, the team set to do battle in the 32nd Dubai International Championship from Jan. 27 to Feb. 5 boasts three former NBA players in Nick Young, Renaldo Balkman, and Shabazz Muhammad.
But for coach Charles Tiu, losing Kouame could be a dampener to their campaign.
“Very unfortunate for us that Ange Kouame will not be able to join us. He will be a big loss and it will be a game changer,” Tiu said yesterday. “But we will still find a way to compete, and we are scrambling to find a replacement now.
“We aren’t going to risk his health for this tournament, and we are thankful our owner boss Jacob Lao has been taking care of him while he is in the hospital,” he added.
Kouame, a former Ateneo standout and UAAP MVP, has been ruled out to play for the Jacob Lao-owned squad due to dengue.
He has been confined at the Medical City in Pasig since Jan. 17.
Kouame, 25, led the Blue Eagles back to the Promised Land in the last cage wars where he averaged 17.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in the Big Dance to bag the finals MVP award.
With Tiu at the helm, Mighty Sports completed a grand sweep of the title three years ago to become the first club team outside the Middle East to rule the tilt.
Aside from the former NBA campaigners, Strong Group also has the likes of Fil-Am Sedrick Barefield, Justine Baltazar, reigning NCAA MVP Will Gozum, BJ Andrade, and Inand Fornillos.
Completing the team are Francis “LeBron” Lopez, University of the Philippines’ Joel Cagulangan, Jerom Lastimosa of Adamson University, and College of St. Benilde’s Miguel Oczon.
