FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualification, Young Indonesian Players Defeated by Thailand

Bangkok, Beritasatu.com – The Indonesian men's basketball team was defeated by host Thailand 56-73 in the 2025 FIBA ​​Asia Cup qualifying window 1 match in Bangkok, Thursday (22/2/2024) evening. National team coach Milos Pejic admitted that he invested in his students in this match.

He stated that Indonesian players had learned lessons from the match against Thailand. They are expected to be able to take experience from that match because the team that was fielded was made up of young players.

This situation is inversely proportional to Thailand. They are a team that has been around for a long time. “So in the Indonesia versus Thailand game, I hope that the children will learn from experience,” said Milos in his statement monitored by Beritasatu.com on Friday (23/2/2024).

“I deliberately chose these young players because in the future, in my opinion, as a coach, they will be able to play with senior players in the SEA Games with Derrick Michael, Andakara Prastawa, Arki Wisnu, Yudha, Bolden, Abraham, Brandon and others. “Please support Indonesia for the program that I am running,” explained Milos.

Milos hopes that after fighting Thailand the players will quickly learn from the international level of the game. Then find out where their skills are compared to the level of international players.

“We are investing in them now and this investment requires time and patience for them to become good players. “Hopefully, from our current investment in the national team, players can emerge who can replace their seniors such as Arki, Prastawa, Abraham and Jawato,” said the coach from Croatia.

For the next match against Australia, Milos knows that this will not be an easy match. This is because Australia is one of the 5th best ranked teams in the world in the FIBA ​​standings. “So when we play against Australia, we will face a team that is very dominant both in team terms, physically and in fundamentals of playing basketball,” said Milos.

“This is a very good opportunity for the children to learn how to face a team that is no longer Asian class but a top team at international level,” he said.

Against Thailand, the Indonesian team had a lead of up to seven points at the start of the match. However, the hosts were able to turn things around and control the game.

In this match, national team player Agassi Goantara scored the most points, 14 points, 8 reboundingand 3 assists. Followed by Mohammad Arighi Hadian Noor with 9 points and 1 rebounding.