Dibuat oleh Admin. Pada 20 June 2024 - 10:16
Satria Muda Pertamina stepped on the gas in the foreign player market after releasing Myke Henry this week. Aware that the void left by the player from Chicago must be resolved quickly, the Satria Muda coaching staff must be smart in choosing players. And that choice ultimately fell on Elgin Rashad Cook, a figure who has traveled across various countries in Europe.
Satria Muda head coach Youbel Sondakh said the main element in selecting the man from Milwaukee was SM's need for players who were physically strong and energetic. And of course this is part of SM's preparations for facing three tough matches and the playoffs in the remainder of this season.
"Why do I say we need players who are not afraid of physical contact and have great energy, because I want Elgin to immediately have a big impact as soon as he enters the field. "Apart from that, this team needs players with bad boy characters on the field, so they can be different in the future," said Youbel on the sidelines of Satria Muda training.
When asked about the reasons for choosing players from the Spanish league again, the head coach who has brought Satria Muda to champions twice emphasized that one of the main factors is because the basketball league there is the best in mainland Europe, which of course is accompanied by the quality of the players.
"Apart from that, currently SM's coaching staff is filled with many figures from Spain, we know that our head coach used to be, and now we have Cesar as assistant and Luis Guil as technical advisor. So indeed their presence opens up new opportunities for us in the player transfer market process. And it was proven that when Artem arrived, he immediately had a good impact on this team and that is what I expected from Elgin Cook. "Hopefully he will quickly adapt to our league," he concluded.
The hope that Elgin will adapt quickly also comes from team captain Arki Wisnu. Arki hopes that Elgin will quickly blend in and the communication on the field will also be good.
"But I have no doubts about his quality and basketball IQ, it's proven that after just one practice he already understands SM's playing system. I'm sure it won't take long for him to become our new weapon here. Apart from that, physically he is also very fit and that is what we need to continue to improve our current defense," he said.
Elgin Cook himself, when met after the first training with Satria Muda at the Britama Arena, said that he was very happy to join Satria Muda, especially since he knew that this team had impressive achievements in the Indonesian basketball league.
"The first thing I like is that the competitive atmosphere in this team is very high, you can see several times the players falling and shouting at each other. And that was great for me as a new person. I always like to join a team that pursues trophies ambitiously, and of course I came here for trophies,' said the former Lenovo Tenerife player enthusiastically.
Furthermore, the man who is the son of former NBA player Alvin Robertson will wear the number 28 jersey and is ready to make his debut when SM visits Bandung this week. (FR)
