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.