Panasia and Aspac warm up for the final four

JAKARTA (JP): With the final berths already in their hands, the sixth series of the 1999 A Mild Kobatama national basketball league served only as a warm-up for Panasia Indosyntec and Aspac Indosyntec.

Panasia recorded the first victory in the last series by trashing Citra Satria Pelita (CSP) 71-52 in the third action of the league in Senayan's basketball hall on Monday. Panasia lost to Mahaka Satria Muda (SM) 53-73 (20-33) on Saturday.

Aspac sweated it out to crush Bima Sakti Nikko Steel 54-51 in front of the home crowd. Aspac tops the team standings with a record of 14 wins and one loss.

Bhinneka Sritex, who ranks third in team standings, was still playing Indonesia Muda (IM) Texmaco in the last match on Monday.

Panasia was not too worried over its record of three losses and ten wins in this year's league. The defending champion, who is in second place behind Aspac, played it safe to maintain the current position and the players' good form.

CSP, who finished ninth in team standings, rebounded after losing 17-28 in the first half, but failed to tame the giant team.

Panasia's top power forward Antonius Joko Endratmo was less aggressive in Monday's match. The 1998 league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) only scored seven points and made three rebounds, compared to CSP's center Yusak Purimahua, who scored 10 points and eight rebounds.

Panasia coach Dedy Kuskanto said his team would wait for the last encounter between SM and Bhinneka on Saturday to decide who would be its challenger in the final four, scheduled for Dec. 4 and Dec. 5.

"We can't pick our rivals. Bhinneka and Mahaka can decide who they are in favor of in the final. In my opinion, all four teams which enter the final have the same level of skills. For me, both Bhinneka and Mahaka can be good rivals," he said after the match.

Dedy also acknowledged his players had not recovered from exhaustion after playing in the fifth series in Surakarta, Central Java from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1.

"I hope they can fully recover before the final," he said.

Aspac coach Tjetjep Firmansyah shared Dedy's opinion, saying that his team was ready to play either Bhinneka or SM. "Any team will be OK," said Tjetjep, who coached the national team for the 1999 Southeast Asian Games.

Bima Sakti benefited from Aspac's poor defense and took the lead with 12-9 in the first half.

But after a brief timeout, Aspac coach Tjetjep Firmansyah fielded taller players I Nyoman Suandi Menara and Tri Adnyana Adiloka to guard the back line, and Aspac ended the first half with a 28-25 lead over Bima Sakti.

When the score was 46-49 for Aspac in the remaining three minutes of the second half, Alvin Jerry of Bima Sakti failed to execute two free throws and so did Hinderawanto. Oei A-kiat and I Made Gede Wahyudi made one free throw each.

Aspac's Andi Poejakusuma scored 15 points and seven rebounds to earn him the daily MVP title on Monday while Wahyudi scored 14 points and seven rebounds.

Bima Sakti's coach Amran Johan said that his team expected to beat Citra Satria Pelita and Siliwangi in the next matches to improve its rank.

Bima Sakti is seventh in the team standings while Cahaya Lestari Surabaya is in the sixth position. (ivy)