Aspac optimistic to win 2000 basketball league

JAKARTA (JP): Home team favorite Aspac was optimistic of its chances to win the President's trophy in the 2000 Nuvo Kobatama national basketball league due to its preparation.

Aspac will face Jakarta-based Indonesia Muda (IM) Texmaco while Bandung-based Panasia Indosyntec will play defending champion Mahaka Satria Muda in Saturday's semifinals.

The finals will be staged on Sunday. Both matches will take place in the Senayan indoor stadium.

Captain Agustinus Ferry Rinaldo said Aspac was not afraid of meeting IM, the only club that managed to beat Aspac during the third series in Jakarta. Aspac only lost one of 16 matches to assure its domination.

"IM players must be mentally prepared to face us because they beat us once in the third series. We must put them under constant pressure during the whole match and we won't let them develop their skills.

"Our players have better individual skills and team cooperation than IM. We just don't want to be careless."

Aspac team manager Irawan Haryono shared Rinaldo's opinion, saying that the team had assured its victory since it prepared for the league.

"After winning the league, we will tell the national basketball team our strategy and tactics that made us win," he said.

Rinaldo also said his team would not repeat the same mistake it made in the 1999 semifinals, when the team saw the league's title slip out of their hands.

Aspac, which topped the group's standings and was heavily favored as a champion, lost to Bhinneka Sritex of Surakarta, which finished fourth in the group in the semis.

"At that time, we were overconfident because we were the group's champions and tended to underestimate our rivals. That won't happen again this year," he said.

Mahaka's captain Amran A. Sinta kept a low profile regarding his team's chances, saying that Mahaka had never targeted the league's title.

"We have never forced ourselves to be the champion. We only tell ourselves not to lose in any of the matches. We lost three times in a row in the fourth series in Bandung, but we believe that luck will not last forever."

"A successful team is one which keeps enthusiastic and manages to win through its hard work."

In two previous encounters, Mahaka did not win over Panasia. None of Panasia's officials showed up at the media gathering.

IM coach Muhammad Rifky said his team would try its best to reach the final. He also expressed hope that each team would maintain sportsmanship in the matches.

The final four matches will also feature women's rapper Denada and male rapper Iwa K. Besides the Cup, each finalist will receive Rp 100 million (US$10,600) in cash. (ivy)