Aspac looks for fifth crown against Satria

Aspac looks for fifth crown against Satria

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Defending champion HP Aspac is looking to retain the
Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) championship title for the
fifth consecutive season when it takes on Satria Muda Britama in
the IBL's best-of-three finals series, beginning on Sunday.

Satria will host the first game at the Kelapa Gading Sports
Mall in North Jakarta on Sunday before Aspac hosts the second
game at the Bung Karno Basketball Hall in Senayan, South Jakarta,
the following week.
The Bung Karno Hall is also reserved for possible third game
should the teams play a 1-1 tie after two games.

Aspac's team manager Irawan Haryono remained confident about
the team's chances.

"We're optimistic that we can win another title. We are all
prepared for the finals," Irawan said during a press conference
here on Friday.

Aspac topped the IBL standings after the regular season
schedule, which ran from May 9 to Aug. 3.

Aspac advanced to the finals after beating CLS Good Day of
Surabaya in the semifinals while Satria booked its place at the
expense of Bhinneka Sritex of Surakarta.

Bhinneka is the only team that was able to beat Aspac during
the 18-game regular season.

With three national players -- Denny Sumargo, Riko Hantono and
Romy Chandra -- on the team, it will be a difficult task for
Satria, which has already lost to Aspac twice this season.

"We will do our best to win in the finals," Aspac's team
captain Riko Hantono said.

Aspac beat Satria in the first series of the season in Jakarta
and the fourth series in Surabaya.

Satria refused to be overawed, however, by those two losses.

"We realize that Aspac is a very strong team, but it does not
mean that the team is invincible," Satria's team manager Simon
Pasaribu said.