Prepared and talented Indonesia ready to win says Roring

JAKARTA (FIBA Asia Cup 2021 SEABA Pre-Qualifier) - The FIBA Asia Cup 2021 SEABA Pre-Qualifier will see four of all six teams advance to the next round. While there’s nothing guaranteed in the game of basketball and you can’t count anyone out until the final buzzer sounds, it seems like it wouldn’t take much for a perennial contender like Indonesia to get one of the four seats.

 Even then, they will not be holding back any punches in the upcoming tournament.

 “THIS DIVERSE TEAM BRINGS ALONG WITH IT THE RIGHT COMBINATION OF SEASONED PLAYERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS AS WELL AS THE YOUNG GUNS WHO HAVE WITH THEM REMARKABLE ENERGY.” - FICTOR RORING

 

 There will be no shortage of talent from the SEABA Championship runner ups, returning 7 players from that squad. The lineup boasts the three most recent MVPs of the Indonesia Basketball League (IBL): Jamarr Johnson, Arki Wisnu, and Xaverius Prawiro. They have proven stars and national team players like Sandy Kurniawan and Andakara Prastawa. If that’s not enough, they’ll have up-and-coming youngsters as well in Abraham Grahita and Juan Laurent Kokodiputra.

 “This diverse team brings along with it the right combination of seasoned players who have experienced international tournaments as well as the young guns who have with them remarkable energy.” Coach Fictor Roring says about his troops.

 On talent alone, it might enough for Indonesia to finish in a qualifying spot. But they are aiming higher than just only a top four spot. They will be coming in as one of the most well-prepared teams in the tournament after using a similar set of players in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup in May and an intense training camp this had just concluded.

 “We spent around 2 weeks training at Impact Academy in [Los Angeles]. We focused our training to sharpen our basic individual skilsl and improve our teamwork,” Roring says of the team’s preparation. Given the intensive program we went through; I have seen progress both skill-wise as well as the confidence of the players.”

 The key pieces for Indonesia in this tournament will be the aforementioned trio of MVPs, Prawiro, Wisnu, and Johnson.

 Indonesia has had to adjust to playing without their long time floor general, Mario Wuysang, but Prawiro has seemed to fill into the role well. It’s been barely a year since the 31-year-old has come out of retirement and he’s done a marvelous job shaking off the rust, scoring the MVP trophy and leading his club, Pelita Jaya, to the IBL Finals. Prawiro is no stranger to the national team, having played for Indonesia earlier this decade. After having some time to adjust with the team, he will be ready for the lead guard role.

 Wisnu and Johnson will serve as the muscle of the team from the forward position.

 Both forwards are strong enough to bully their matchups in the post, but can also spread out the floor with their shooting. Both were on the roster in the SEABA Championship, but fans only got to see them play with the team in the final two games of the tournament. It seems like they won’t have the same troubles this time around and will be ready to contribute from the start.

 “Both Arki and Jamarr would play instrumental roles in our team, given their skill, experiences and leadership roles.” Roring says of his two stars.

 Indonesia has their eyes set on building a strong team for the long run and they will be playing in this tournament looking to win it all. They have the tools to do it, but they know that Thailand will stand in their way as one of the biggest challenges.

 “I have noticed a massive improvement of Thailand’s team for the last couple of years,” Coach Roring says of their rival. “It has now become a strong and solid team in South East Asia. Consistency and focus would be something that we would want to have when playing against Thailand.”

FIBA