Another Philippine team, the Zamboanga Valientes, will be competing in the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship starting this January 24.
Along with Strong Group Athletics, the Zamboanga Valientes will be representing the Philippines for the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship starting this January 24.
Zamboanga becomes the newest Philippine team to compete in Dubai, joining a list that also includes Mighty Sports and early iterations of Gilas Pilipinas (then known as Smart Gilas). The Valientes will be competing in Group B starting January 25 (Manila time) against Lebanon’s Sagesse, Libya’s Al-Ahli, UAE’s Sharjah, and the Tunisia men’s national team for the elimination rounds.
The Valientes aren’t strangers to overseas competitions, having participated in the ASEAN Basketball League Invitational in 2023. Zamboanga finished with a respectable 7-7 record in the tourney, with two-time NBA champion Mario Chalmers as one of their imports.
Zamboanga also enters Dubai fresh off a title run in The Asian Tournament, where they were led by four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins in a title sweep on home soil. Cousins is now with Strong Group, which adds a layer of excitement toward a possible Valientes-Strong Group clash in Dubai.
New recruits for Dubai
A rejigged Zamboanga Valientes lineup is expected to compete in Dubai, which now features UST stars Forth Padrigao and Nic Cabañero, seven-foot-five center Sam Deguara, and well-traveled journeyman Adonis Thomas.
Padrigao and Cabañero were key cogs in UST’s Final Four run in UAAP Season 87, and will be looking to refine their games in Dubai for Season 88. Padrigao orchestrated UST’s offense in Season 87, while Cabañero’s all-around brilliance led to his first Mythical Five appearance as a fourth-year guard.
Seven-foot-five Deguara was part of the Taiwan Mustangs team that faced Gilas Pilipinas in an Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) tuneup last June 25, and will form an imposing frontcourt with former UAAP MVP in six-foot-eleven Malick Diouf.

Thomas, meanwhile, is a former NBA player, and has played across European leagues since 2016. Along with Deguara, Thomas was also part of the Macau Black Bears team that’s competing in the 2024-25 East Asia Super League season.
Former PBA pros such as Prince Caperal and Rashawn McCarthy will also play for Zamboanga in Dubai, along with former first-round pick Ken Holmqvist as he tries to turn his PBA dream into a reality. Then there’s guard Kyt Jimenez, who took a leap of faith following an unproductive PBA career with the San Miguel Beermen.
After opening their campaign against Sharjah, the Zamboanga Valientes will take on Al-Ahli on January 28 (Manila time), and the Tunisia national team on the 29th. Without a doubt, this tourney will provide much-needed growth as the team goes out of their comfort zone in the Asian circuit.
Images courtesy of Wendell Alinea.