MVP Lolik plans to call it a day

MVP Lolik plans to call it a day

JAKARTA (JP): Being awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and
best player title at every national basketball event comes as no
surprise to I Made "Lolik" Sudiadnyana of Bhinneka Sritex
Surakarta, Central Java.

However, after winning three more titles -- top rebounder, top
scorer and MVP of the season -- at the final of the Nuvo Kobatama
league on Sunday, the 1.88m tall power forward is thinking of
quitting basketball.

The first reason is because he will end his four-year contract
with Bhinneka in October.

"I'm tired of playing basketball. But I still have no idea of
what I'm going to do after the contract ends," Lolik said.

The other reason he has given is that he wants to return home
in Singaraja, Bali, where he was born on Nov. 16, 1970.

"Until now, I didn't know what to do in Bali. I'm still
jobless, because I have been pursuing my career in basketball,"
said Lolik, who joined Kobatama for the first time in 1992 with
old club Bima Sakti Nikko Steel of Malang, East Java.

Lolik learned basketball at his local Sudirman club in
Singaraja. For years, he developed himself as a brilliant forward
and shooter as well as, given his high posture, a fast pace.

The sixth of eight children of I Putu Sumandra and I Nyoman
Sunili, who was also awarded a MVP title last year, has joined
the national team for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games three
times, in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 1995, in Brunei Darussalam in
1999 and this year in Kuala Lumpur.

Unfortunately, despite his magnificent individual skills,
Lolik has never helped Bhinneka to lift the Kobatama trophy.
Since joining the league in 1997, Bhinneka's best performance has
only been at the final in 1997, 1999 and again this year.

Lolik has proven that he could earn a living as a basketball
player.

"It's not difficult to earn money through a career in sports."

He said none of his siblings are interested in becoming an
athlete.

"They thought it would be difficult to find a mate on the
basketball court," he quipped.

As a mature, good-looking and fair-skinned man, Lolik has
become favorite for basketball fans, especially young girls.

Scores of young girls will line up for Lolik's autograph. In
one event, a girl approached him for an autograph and suddenly
launched a quick kiss on his cheek. Lolik just gave a wide grin
to all the people who caught the action.

On Sunday, a girl in a tight red T-shirt approached him while
being interviewed by journalists. "This is my girlfriend, Ratna
Widjaja," said Lolik, who also speaks fluent Javanese.

Bhinneka's assistant manager Tommy Lianggono, admitted that
Lolik was popular among girls. "We see that he changes partner so
quickly," he said with a laugh. (ivy)