Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Wed, May 23, 2012
Archive Search

Basketball: Title Hopefuls Set Their Sights on Satria Muda
Sandy Pramuji | January 06, 2012

Dell Aspac forward Rizky Effendi, left, says he’s healthy again and ready to go for the season’s second series. (JG Photo/Rezza Estily) Dell Aspac forward Rizky Effendi, left, says he’s healthy again and ready to go for the season’s second series. (JG Photo/Rezza Estily)
Share This Page
0
0
0
0
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

Be the first to write your opinion!

A marquee match between National Basketball League leader Pelita Jaya Esia and second-place Satria Muda Britama, the defending champion, highlights the second series of the season starting today in Solo.

Satria Muda, which has won five straight NBL titles and six of the last seven, is 5-0. It trails Pelita (5-1) by a point, with losing teams awarded one point and winners two in league play.

The game will be the teams’ first meeting since Satria Muda won 79-72 in the fifth series last season. Pelita, part of the Bakrie family’s sporting empire, is one of the teams believed to have the best chance of ending the reigning champion’s dominance.

Pelita coach Rastafari Horongbala said consistency was key for his young squad to reach its full potential.

“The team still needs some stability in its performance,” he said on Friday. “I’ve never doubted that my players have above-average skills, but if we want to win the league, we have to maintain our top performance in every game.”

That call for greater consistency applies to his team’s mentality, as well.

“Sometimes they just lose concentration and forget how to defend tightly and leave a gap that opponents use to go to the basket. We can’t afford to do that against a team as good as Satria Muda,” Rastafari said.

However, the coach also said he was pleased with his team’s improvement during the break between the first and second series, particularly after beating Garuda Speedy 52-41 in an exhibition last week.

Another team expected to challenge for the trophy is Dell Aspac, which beat Pelita 58-51 in the first series in Bandung. The Jakarta club finished the opening series 4-1, and forward Rizky Effendi said he believed Aspac could go unbeaten in the second series, which runs until Jan. 15.

Rizky was one of Aspac’s leading scorers last season, but he struggled during the first series and averaged just 4.4 points per game.

“I had just recovered from a knee injury, and during the first series I was playing with a mental burden because I didn’t want to be injured again,” the 23-year-old said. “But now I feel better and I’m ready to play hard.”

Aspac faces last season’s runner-up, the 3-3 CLS Knights, at Sritex Arena on Sunday.

Also today, NSH GMC plays Stadium while Comfort Mobile BSC faces Pacific Caesar.

Pelita, NSH and Stadium play again on Sunday against Muba Hangtuah, Garuda and Bimasakti Nikko Steel, respectively.