JAKARTA The Pelita Jaya Jakarta basketball club made a brilliant achievement as a team of the top five of Asia after completing the 2024 FIBA Basketball Champions League (BCL) event.
Runner up from IBL Indonesia season 2023 underwent work in Group B of the main round of BCL Asia 2024 by defeating the teams of champions from other countries. Among them is Iran's best team, Shahrdari Gorman, who was beaten with a score of 97-90.
They also bagged victory when they met the Korean Basketball League champion team Busan KCC Egis with a score of 98-91. These two victories brought Pelita Jaya into the top five positions in Asia.
Pelita Jaya at the end of the FIBA BCL Asia 2024 standings is under Al Riyadi Beirut (Lebanon), Shahrdari Gorman (Iran), Hiroshima Dragonflies (Japan), and Shabab Al Expert (UAE).
Pelita Jaya coach Johannis Winar said FIBA BCL Asia is the highest level competition so it is very useful for the team to emphasize their status when appearing there.
"To increase the level of the game, in addition to getting strong opponents, we must also balance it with hard work in playing. By exercising our maximum ability when we meet a strong team, then we can raise the level of our game," he said.
Since Pelita Jaya fought in FIBA BCL Asia 2024, the players have been able to show their best abilities in every match. This was done not only when he was in the final but since the preliminary round of Group B in the first round which took place April 2-7 in Uladianbataar, Mongolia.
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At that time Pelita Jaya was able to wipe out all the matches with a win. They started the journey by beating the Thai League champions, the Hi-Tech Basketball Club with a score of 99-81; beat the Mongolian League champion, Ulaanabaatar Xac Broncos with a position of 89-83; and in the final match their group stage beat the Singapore League champion, Adroit Club with a score of 82-64.
This 100 percent record then led Pelita Jaya to a ticket for the second round of FIBA BCL Asia 2024. Their hegemony then continued in the second round which took place at Mahaka Square, Jakarta, on 23-26 April 2024.
While in Jakarta, this Pelita-Holic club took turns beating its opponents to secure two tickets to the 2024 FIBA Asia final round which took place in Dubai.
The Malaysian League champions, NS Matrix, became their first victim. Following then defeating Prawira Bandung with a score of 88-67. Furthermore, the champion of the Hong Kong League, Hong Kong Eastern, was forced to admit the greatness of Pelita Jaya.
The winning record in six matches without defeat led Pelita Jaya to the final round which took place in Dubai 9-15 June 2024.
In the final round, Pelita Jaya's opponents were much tougher because they were giants in Asian basketball. Starting from the U.A.E. League, Japan, Korea, China, Iran, to Lebanon.
The results of the FIBA BCL Asia 2024 final round draw put Pelita Jaya in the 'Hell Group'. This is because Pelita Jaya has to fight in Group B with representatives from Japan who are ranked by FIBA Asia in third place.
Then the Iranian representatives ranked by FIBA Asia Iran were in fourth place and the Korean representatives ranked FIBA Asia were ranked ninth.
Even Iranian clubs (Shahrdari Gorman) and Korea (Busan KCC Egis) in this event were each reinforced by basketball players labeled as national team players. The two clubs were also able to be beaten by Pelita Jaya.
If only Pelita Jaya had not slipped in the inaugural match against the Japanese basketball League champion, B.League, Hiroshima Dragonflies, with the defeat of 69-86, Pelita Jaya could have gone further. The defeat stopped Pelita Jaya's 100 percent record because it was unbeaten since FIBA BCL Asia was played.
This significant margin turns out to be what determines Pelita Jaya's steps in the future. Pelita Jaya could not penetrate the semifinals because she lost in a matter of points with another team. Pelita Jaya in the group B phase is in third place.
Despite failing to advance further, Pelita Jaya was still able to record spectacular moments. They made up the history of Indonesian basketball because without the addition of the mainstay import player JaQuari Mclaughlin could still successfully embarrass the representative of Iran, Shahrdari Gorgean who was the winner of the 3-peat Iranian Super League (2020-2024).
When defeated by Pelita Jaya 97-90, Shahrdari Gorman was strengthened by the captain of the Iranian national team Arsalan Kazemi, the first Iranian to be Draft by the NBA. They also have new Import players at Joe Young Ex NBA and 2020 CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) Scoring Champion & Foreign MVP and also strengthened by Will Cherry Ex Cleveland Cavaliers.
When defeating the South Korean Basketball League champions, Busan KCC Egis, Pelita Jaya could only play nine players following the injuries of Brandon Jawato, Agas Goantar, and JaQuori Mclaughlin. Meanwhile, from KCC Egis, in this match, the mainstay shot guard of the South Korean National Team Heo Ung, who had just received the MVP title plus 6 Korean national team players and Import Deon Thompson.
The luxury squad of the Korean League champions was silenced by Pelita Jaya with a seven-point victory after the final score was 98-91. This record places Pelita Jaya in historical ink as the first Indonesian club to be able to beat the Korean Basketball League champions.
"We are grateful that the results in FIBA BCL Asia are not so bad. What the players have obtained while at BCL Asia is a separate motivation for the players while navigating the IBL. Hopefully this season we can end the fasting title which was last achieved in 2017," said Winar.
With this result, Pelita Jaya was able to legitimize that Indonesian basketball and the Indonesian Basketball League Competition at the Asian level were able to face and beat Asian giants.
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