Joko plans to enter modeling despite his basketball career<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Young and good looking, Antonius Joko Endratmo
\nis looking to strike out in a profession a world away from his
\ncurrent job in Indonesia' professional basketball league
\n(Kobatama).<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old forward, who is currently training for the
\n20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, said he would try his luck in
\nmodeling if he received any offers from talent scouts.<\/p>\n
\"Many people told me I should be a model. If I have the
\nchance, and if there is anybody who offers me a job, I will take
\nit,\" he told The Jakarta Post last week.<\/p>\n
He said after leading his team, Panasia Indosyntec, to their
\nsecond-straight Kobatama title in 1998, he was approached by film
\nagents who asked him to star in a television series, known here
\nas sinetron.<\/p>\n
Following the team's victory, Joko was named the league's Most
\nValuable Player.<\/p>\n
\"At the time, I turned down the offers because I had no
\nthought of becoming a sinetron actor,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Joko said, however, he would not leave basketball in the near
\nfuture because the sport provided him financial support.<\/p>\n
\"I will play basketball as long as I can. I can pay for my
\nstudies from my salary,\" he said. He is a second-year student at
\nthe School of Economics at state-run Padjadjaran University in
\nBandung, West Java.<\/p>\n
He said he received over Rp 1 million a month from the
\nBandung-based basketball club.<\/p>\n
Born on Sept. 27, he began his basketball career on a junior
\nclub in his hometown of Yogyakarta. \"After a while, I felt that
\nmy career was not going anywhere there. There is no bigger club
\nto join,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He went to Semarang in 1995 and joined the Glory club. The
\nfollowing year, the club was disbanded and he and several players
\nfollowed former Glory coach Danny Kosasih, who is coaching the
\nSEA Games team, to Bandung.<\/p>\n
\"It was Danny who suggested to me that I join Panasia,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Joko said the club had taught him discipline. \"If we come late
\nfor practice, the boss cuts our salary. The morning practice is
\nfrom 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., while the evening session is from 4 p.m.
\nto 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
\"We have to be on the court before 8:10 a.m. If we perform
\nwell, we get bonuses, but if not, we will get a warning,\" he
\nsaid, adding that the club is under the management of textile
\ncompany PT Panasia Filament Inti, a subsidiary of publicly listed
\nPT Panasia Indosyntec.<\/p>\n
Two other players from Panasia, I Gde Agus Wahyudi and Saut
\nLambok Johnson, have also been selected for the SEA Games squad.<\/p>\n
Debut<\/p>\n
Joko will be making his SEA Games debut this year.<\/p>\n
\"Our team will try to get the silver. I will play my best
\nuntil the referee blows his whistle to end the game. At that
\nmoment, we'll know whether we won or lost,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In early July, he and the other members of the SEA Games squad
\nwent to the Philippines to compete in the six-day Southeast Asian
\nBasketball Association championship.<\/p>\n
Although the Indonesian team did not finish in the top three
\nin the championship, Joko said the team could now develop new
\nstrategies to tackle Asian basketball giants the Philippine.<\/p>\n
\"They are tall and have good skills. We are far below them,
\nbut at least we can learn new strategies to beat them in the
\nGames,\" he said, adding that the Philippine squad would probably
\ndiffer from the one they faced in the championship.<\/p>\n
The Philippine basketball team won the gold medal at the 1997
\nSEA Games, while Indonesia came in fourth after it was defeated
\nby Thailand.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesian basketball players are as tall as the Filipinos,
\nbut we lack agility,\" he said.(ivy)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/joko-plans-to-enter-modeling-despite-his-basketball-career-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}