MANILA, Philippines -- During one of Strong Group Realty's 5-on-5 half court drills inside the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde sports and dormitory facility, former San Miguel import Shabazz Muhammad caught the ball from the left wing, drove hard to the basket, and tried to slam it all over Blazers big man Will Gozum.

The NCAA Most Valuable Player could only chuckle as he gave up a hard foul to prevent what would have been a poster dunk from the former Minnesota Timberwolves wing man, while the rest of their teammates likewise laughed the light moment off.

For head coach Charles Tiu, such intensity from players during practice sessions is necessary. The team is trying to win the race against time, develop the necessary cohesion, and defend the Philippines' title in the upcoming Dubai International Basketball Tournament 2023, which starts on January 27.

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"I appreciate the fact that they are trying hard," Tiu said. "Chemistry is not so good yet, to be honest. (The) guys aren’t familiar with each other yet; they don’t know how they play. Still a work in progress but hopefully in the coming days, we’re gonna get better."

Being in tip-top shape is another factor. Since Strong Group is composed of Philippine collegiate stars, most took long breaks after their UAAP and NCAA campaigns. Fortunately, the Blazers tactician is seeing positive signs as early as now that they can build from.

"They are not in the best of shapes yet, (but) I can’t complain. I’ve had no attitude problems. Everybody listens. That’s a good sign for me," he said.

"Hopefully, we can still put things together. We don’t have a lot of time. Everything is compressed. We can’t complicate things, we have to make it as simple as possible, so hopefully, we can figure it out."

Representing the Philippines in the prestigious tournament which also involves powerhouse Middle Eastern and Northern African clubs, Strong Group features collegiate standouts Gozum, Ange Kouame, Justine Baltazar, Jerom Lastimosa, BJ Andrade, Migs Oczon, and JD Cagulangan.

• Benilde's Will Gozum is NCAA Most Valuable Player

Ateneo de Manila University's Inand Fornillos and Jacob Lao, Filipino-American Sedrick Barefield, and imports Muhammad, Renaldo Balkman, and Nick Young complete the crew.

Part of Tiu's immediate goal is to get the team to play other local professional teams in organized tune-up matches to further strengthen the team's bond moving forward.

"That's really our biggest challenge right now. I want to try and get at least three to four tune-up games. It’s important for us to build chemistry and get people in shape. That’s really our biggest challenge right now," he said.

Not only is the Philippines the defending winner as Mighty Sports, then led by Balkman and Andray Blatche, took home the title last 2020, the squad will also be playing in front of many Filipinos in the OFW-rich United Arab Emirates capital.

Tiu has already oriented his stalwarts about the magnitude of this particular aspect of the tourney, giving them more motivation to transform to a formidable unit ahead of the January 27 tip-off.

"It’s tough, we let them know how tough the competition is. They’re all in great shape. It’s tough, but I think they’re aware it’s going to be challenging. And assuming you go all the way, it’s going to be seven games in 10 days. Pretty sure a lot of guys have not experienced that," Tiu shared.

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"I’d say we’re a bit short on bigs, our wings are okay because we have our imports. Medyo kulang sa bigs but hopefully everybody stays healthy, nobody gets into foul trouble."

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