Strong Group adds a veteran shooter in Matthew Wright as the Philippine club eyes a third straight William Jones Cup championship in Taipei in August.
Charles Tiu, the chief architect of the club’s back-to-back titles in 2024 and 2025, is ecstatic to add the many-time Gilas Pilipinas player in the already stacked team's roster.
"I've been trying to recruit Matt to play for me again in Phoenix, but it just hasn't worked out," said Tiu, who concurrently handles the Fuel Masters in the PBA.
“I'm glad to finally get the chance to coach him again. It's been almost 10 years since we last worked together, even before he joined the PBA."
The 35-year-old Wright spent his first six years with Phoenix after being selected by the team in the 2016 PBA special draft.
The Filipino-Canadian sharpshooter then left the Phoenix franchise in 2022 to play in the Japan B.League. The two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, recently signed a deal with the Saitama Broncos.
"I always want a veteran on my team. Matt can still play at a high level and is a great shooter for us. You can never have too many shooters, so we're really looking forward to working with him again,” said Tiu.
Wright joins William Navarro and Shaun Ildefonso among the latest additions to Strong Group, which earlier announced that it will be reinforced by former NBA big man Boban Marjanovic.
Also included in the team are Dave Ildefonso, DJ Fenner, Angelo Kouame, Tajuan Agee, Allen Liwag and Titing Manalili.
Strong Group is eyeing to become the first ballclub since Iran to win three straight Jones Cup titles. The Iranians did the trick from 2009 to 2011.
