Foreign players to lead Kobatama league
Foreign players to lead Kobatama league
JAKARTA (JP): Foreign players look certain to steal the limelight in the Kobatama basketball league which will kick off its new season next week.
But not all the foreigners will be heroes. Defending champion Aspac has sent former Washington Bullets player Bobby Irvin back to the United States because the club found him lacking.
"Bobby did not take his practices seriously," Aspac coach Irawan announced yesterday.
The Jakarta-based club has decided upon Kareem Robinson in place of Irvin, although Irawan said that he does not find it necessary to hire a center rebound specialist like Robinson.
Aspac, bidding its second straight championship title, has also hired another American, Dwayne Kirkly.
The league has passed a new ruling which requires each of the 10 club members to hire two foreign players. Kobatama has named Pro Advantage and Ellis as the authorized agents of the foreign players, but some of the clubs, including Aspac, opted to do the hiring their own way.
As a consequence of the new rule, there will be 20 imported cagers playing this season. Pelita Jaya's Bobby Allen, member of Canada's Olympic team in 1992, is the only non-American player.
Imported players, who landed here for the first time in 1994, will remain a reputable force to boost the performance of league members.
Pelita Jaya manager, Toto Sudarsono, expressed guarded optimism yesterday that the duo of Allen and Charles Jones would lead his team to the title. The Jakarta-based club finished fourth last season.
Allen played a dominant role in propelling St. Lucia to finish among the top four in the Philippine professional league last year before moving here.
Jones, hired by Pelita from Siliwangi of Bandung, is one of four foreign players who have opted to extend their stay here. Siliwangi resigned Craig Davis, but it has yet to find a replacement for Jones.
Executive administrator of Kobatama Ary Sudarsono said that the league will introduce a set of strict regulations aimed at maintaining order during the competition.
"Each club is held responsible for any violation made by its players," Ary said.
Kobatama allows referees to take punitive action against players who break the rules, ranging from fines to suspension, and deportation of foreign players. (05)