Strong Group Athletics were on a quest to complete an unprecedented three-peat in the 2026 William Jones Cup, only to be denied a chance at even advancing to the postseason. Adding salt to their wounds was the fact that they were prevented from advancing because of a controversial rule that left a huge stain in this year’s edition of the tournament. 

The 2026 William Jones Cup organizers decided to give the Chinese Taipei national team an automatic semifinal berth regardless of their record. And so Republic of China Blue advanced to the semifinals despite holding a 1-5 record, with Strong Group Athletics being relegated to the 5th place game despite beating every single team in their group. Meanwhile, the Republic of China White emerged as the second semifinal representative for Group B, but their 3-3 record was actually better than that of Jordan and Malaysia. For what it’s worth, though, both Republic of China teams were thoroughly blown out in the semifinals. 

The outcome led to a ton of finger pointing and drew the ire of Philippine fans and even those from Taiwan. Sure, the rationale was to prepare Chinese Taipei for the upcoming 2026 Asian Games next month, but was it really worth it for the organizers to bend the rules instead of organizing tuneup games that would have been more practical and peaceful than the mess they created? If Taiwan has a dismal performance in the Asian Games, then the Jones Cup debacle will be the least of their national federation’s (and maybe even the Jones Cup organizers’) worries. 

Nevertheless, Strong Group Athletics doesn’t need a championship to validate their ability to compete. They continue to have the ability to put together championship contender rosters in Gilas-esque conditions (i.e., working with only weeks to recruit players and let them practice together). Sure, there’s no nationality constraints in the competitions they join (e.g., Jones Cup and the Dubai International Basketball Championship), but Strong Group Athletics has won in recent years and on-court victories matter more than those that can be assumed on paper. 

There may be those that will say that Strong Group Athletics could have avoided this problem if they took care of their first meeting with KBL’s Wonju DB Promy and ran the score to secure a better quotient, but a team should not be punished because of the selfish motivations of others. Moreover, this is not how “one game should define a tournament” should be. 

Without the controversial rule, a knockout stage would be an interesting evolution to the Jones Cup. For the longest time, the Jones Cup has been a round-robin tournament where the team with the best record emerges as champion. It has produced thrilling finishes such as the 2012 William Jones Cup, where the final outcome was not decided until the last game, which was when Gilas Pilipinas took a 76-75 victory over the US representative team. 

Other times, the winners could be decided with a few games to play, leading to lower motivation and some whimpering ends to the competition. Having knockout games in the Jones Cup would keep more teams on their toes and ensure the top seeds are not complacent. 

Overall, though, there are a lot of lessons to be learned from all the parties involved in the 2026 William Jones Cup. The organizers were onto something when they wanted to shake things up, format-wise, but a pinch of self-interest led to their undoing and drew the ire of basketball fans. For Strong Group Athletics, winning has to begin on Day One, but despite circumstances beyond their control, they can take solace in the fact that they are one of the competition’s best teams. 

It’s more likely than not that Strong Group Athletics will be invited to return and whether or not they accept the invitation is on them. If they do so, then an opportunity to exact vengeance and truly stamp their class is there for the taking.