Indosyntec eyes champioship title

JAKARTA (JP): Panasia Indosyntec badly needs to cool its temper if it is to regain the Kobatama basketball league championship title today.

The Bandung team set up a league final trilogy with defending champion Aspac of Jakarta on Thursday, only after a thrilling semifinal which saw its forward, Kiki, receive a foul-out and two other players -- Harsono and Saut Lombok Jonson -- tally their fouls to four each.

"Sometimes the players don't realize the right moment to foul during a game," Indosyntec coach Deddy Kuskanto said.

Indosyntec beat newcomer Satria Muda 95-84 in the semifinal on Thursday, while Aspac came back from a first-half deficit to eliminate BS Nikko Steel 76-68 in the second semifinal.

Deddy indicated that his 1994 triumphant team would stick to its tight man-to-man marking, a measure which he believes will prompt a foul-ridden game.

The forward pair of Gerald McDonald and Emeka Okinwa will be Deddy's first choices to lead Indosyntec's up-front charge to meet their equal opposition from fellow import players Bobby Parks and Kenny Travis.

McDonald, with a height of only 1.82 meters -- quite short for basketball -- is known for his tricky and quick moves on his way to the ring.

Aspac will also rely on local forward Tri Adnyana Adi Loka, who has been picked as one of the Most Valuable Player candidates of the tournament.

Both Indosyntec and Aspac had previously met twice in the championship final. The Bandung side -- then called Hadtex -- won the first stage of the trilogy, but lost by a last-gasp three- pointer the following year.

The two pretournament favorites also tied at 1-1 in their round-robin matches this season.

Aspac manager Irawan Haryono said that his team did not have special preparations for the match, but believed his side deserves the victory.

"We carry a big burden of retaining our title, but we are out to make it," Irawan said. "The mounting pressures had played havoc to our performance in the first half of our semifinal. It won't happen again in the final."

Indosyntec manager Suwadi Bing Adi said that his team had only set its sight on reaching the final. "The semifinal win, however, has fueled our bid for another title."

"We have beaten good teams in the process. Why can't we beat Aspac?" he said.

The winner of the final is likely to represent Indonesia in the Asian Basketball Championships, scheduled to be staged here for the second time since 1994. (yan)