2025 Asian Basketball Cup Qualification: Indonesian National Team Battered Against Thailand

Liputan6.com, Jakarta- The Indonesian national basketball team got off to a bad start in the 2025 Asian Basketball Cup Qualifications. Joined in Group A, Indonesia was beaten 56-73 when they were hosted by Thailand in the first match at Nimibutr Stadium, Bangkok, Thursday (22/2/2024) evening WIB.

Facing the 2025 Asian Basketball Cup Qualifications, the Indonesian national team is bringing the majority of young players. There are no naturalized Marques Bolden players currently playing in the NBA. Derrick Michael, Andakara Prastawa and Abraham Damar Grahita were also not taken.

Meanwhile, Yudha Saputera and Brandon Jawato are not fit. The Indonesian national team relies on naturalized player Lester Prosper.

Without key players, the team managed by Rony Gunawan had difficulty keeping up with Thailand. Since the first quarter, Thailand has dominated, driven by former CLS player Frederick Lee Jones Lish. Thailand was able to make Indonesia only score eight points in the first quarter. The hosts lead 17-8.

Entering the second quarter, Indonesia's game started to improve slightly and was able to keep up with Thailand. Even though the overall score was still far behind, Widyanta Putera Teja and his friends only lost 17-18 in the second quarter.

The Indonesian national basketball team was unable to continue this momentum in the third quarter. Thailand dominates again. They easily scored point after point due to the mistakes of the Indonesian players. Thailand took the third quarter 25-10. Thailand had a 25 point lead to start the fourth quarter.