During the SEABA Championship, Team Indonesia made it clear that the squad was using it as a preparation for the Southeast Asian Games in August.
After finishing second behind Gilas Pilipinas in SEABA, one would think that Indonesia would be confident enough to aim for the gold medal especially with Gilas Pilipinas sending a different squad.
That’s not the case, however.
“They have a solid core. It’s almost impossible, with our roster right now, to even compete against them. It’s impossible. They’re just too big. They’re closing in on rebounds, second chance points. I just felt that for the SEA Games, Indonesia’s goal is to be second. Second would be satisfying for our team, our management,” Indonesia’s naturalized player Jamarr Johnson said.
“Indonesia nearly beat the Philippines, but not this Gilas team. It’s a different story. We’re undersized. There’s no way we can compete with their size.”
Indonesia pushed the Gilas cadets to the limit in the 2015 SEA Games final, but still fell short, 72-64, to settle for silver.
Veteran guard Mario Wuysang echoed his teammate’s sentiments, and said that reaching the finals is the more realistic goal.
“We want to get to the finals again in SEA Games, carry on that momentum two years ago. If we have that opportunity to be in the finals, hopefully, we can capitalize this time around. We nearly beat the Philippines two years ago. I know that the Philippines will be more prepared than they were last SEA Games. We realized that we just have to improve. It’s still a tall mountain to climb,” Wuysang said.
But the 38-year-old player knows that Team Philippines will still be formidable even with a different set of players.
“I don’t think this is the team we’re going to face in Kuala Lumpur, but I know we’re going to face a good team because Philippines is always tough. We’re focused on taking a game, getting better as a unit for ourselves right now,” he said.
Wuysang conceded that Filipinos are still kings of Southeast Asian basketball, and relished the opportunity of playing against some of the country’s best.
“We have high respect for Filipinos. They’ve represented us in the World Basketball (Cup) and we look up to them. We support them always,” he said.
“I haven’t played against Terrence Romeo before, but I played against (Jayson) Castro before. I love playing against these guys, especially in this beautiful arena in the Philippines. I am honored to go up against them. I wish I was in my prime. This is the first time I played against Romeo. I heard so much about him.
“A good friend of mine, Stanley Pringle was on his team. I knew he’s really good. All of them are impressive. Matthew Wright, he can shoot. The little guard, (Jio) Jalalon, I played against him in the SEA Games and he’s good. His upside is amazing. (Allein) Maliksi and (RR) Pogoy are also good. From top to bottom, they’re great.”