RI may win bronze in SEA Games basketball

RI may win bronze in SEA Games basketball

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's men's national team manager Erick
Thohir expressed optimism about bringing home the Southeast Asian
(SEA) Games bronze medal, considering the 16 players named to the
team on Monday and the coach's training program.

"The training program assumes that we have a 90 percent chance
for the bronze and a 50 percent chance for silver. But don't talk
about winning gold, the chances may be zero percent," he said
with a laugh.

Coach Tjetjep Firmansyah will be assisted by Muhammad Rifky as
technical assistant and Octavianus Matakupan as physical
assistant.

Besides the Philippines as the regional powerhouse, Erick
named Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as other tough rivals.

"Singapore has just recruited young Chinese players who have
been naturalized and the Malaysian team has picked Australia as
its practice partner. Thailand have made up a good team and it
has never competed in a Southeast Asian-level tournament, but it
has gone to the Asian-level competition."

"I really hope Indonesia can reach the final and can win a
gold. But we are also dealing with a short training period," he
said.

As team manager, Erick is ready to finance the team. "A team
manager doesn't only manage the team but also takes care of the
budget. I think it's a normal situation in Indonesia."

However, he did not know how much he will have to spend on the
national team.

The training will last from Feb. 1 to March 7 in Jakarta. From
March 9 to March 16, the team will compete in the Southeast Asian
Basketball Association (SEABA) internations tournament in the
Philippines.

"If we can become group champion, we can qualify for the final
round of the Asian Basketball Championships in Thailand from July
9 to July 15. But if we fail, we will still have the chance to
test our skills against overseas teams in the Anniversary Cup,"
he said.

Five teams from Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Rotterdam and Paris,
which are all sister cities of Jakarta, will compete in the Cup
in July.

Meanwhile, giant textile firm Texmaco Group has ended its
sponsorship contract with Indonesia Muda club and signed a new
deal with Aspac. Under the new deal, Aspac will bear the name
Aspac Texmaco.

Vice President of Marketing and Planning Leonard Brownfield,
who formerly managed the Indonesia Muda Texmaco team, refused to
disclose the value of the deal.

Brownfield argued that Texmaco and the Indonesia Muda club had
differences in perception as regards the management of an amateur
team that could compete at the professional level. "We were
probably not going to accomplish our goal together. So, last week
Texmaco and Indonesia Muda agreed to go their separate ways."

The fate of Indonesia Muda (IM) players was not clear now that
the club, which finished fourth in the 2000 league, no longer has
a sponsor. Three key IM players -- Rommy Chandra, Charles Bronson
and Agus Sumantri -- have moved to the new Aspac Texmaco.

But, IM head coach, Rifky, said 60 percent of the players had
been contacted by other clubs. (ivy)