Dibuat oleh Admin. Pada 12 August 2024 - 14:27
Satria Muda Pertamina (SMP) is again fasting for a title this season after bowing to Pelita Jaya (PJ) in the 2024 IBL final. Abraham Damar et al had to fast for the runner-up position because they lost in game 3 with a score of 73-65. The final score was 2-1 for PJ's advantage, this is their fourth title during their participation in the highest basketball league in the country.
SMP was actually able to open up hope to win the thirteenth trophy after being able to win convincingly in the first game with a score of 84-71. Playing with full support from the SM Fanacits, SMP managed to close the gaps in points from PJ with a neat defense pattern.
However, that was what happened in games 2 and 3 which took place at PJ's home ground, Indomilk Arena Tangerang. PJ, who understood that they had to make various changes, played aggressively from the start. They closely monitored every movement of SMP's key players both when attacking and defending. Added to the “fragrance” factor of their shooters from the three-point line was finally enough to end their seven-year title drought.
“First of all, I am still proud of the struggle of all my players at Satria Muda. Especially after being 12 points behind but finally being able to give maximum resistance to PJ. But indeed in the last two minutes we lost momentum, but yes, we kept fighting until the end for this game,” said Youbel Sondakh, the head coach of SMP.
When asked about the inability of the SMP players to score points for almost 9 minutes in the second quarter, the man from Manado said that he was also a little confused but still believed that his players were able to overcome it.
“Honestly, I was also surprised, there were even some situations that were really open but still didn’t get any points. Yes, that’s basketball, sometimes there are indeed many things that can make us not believe but in the locker room I continued to motivate them that we could catch up and it was proven that we were almost able to catch up with them. It’s just that they had their own luck that finally came out as winners,” he continued.
Meanwhile, captain Arki Dikania Wisnu sees these three final games as a very good learning experience for the young Satria Muda Pertamina squad. The owner of the number 33 jersey is sure that this squad will develop much more in the future.
"Of course it is very unpleasant to end up with a defeat like this, especially since we are Satria Muda. A team that always wants to win and has a tradition of champions. But there is always a positive thing that can be taken from every defeat. One of them is that this will be an extraordinary experience for our young players. They will have a better mentality in the future and I will not be surprised if they can be much better and ready in the upcoming matches with Satria Muda," he concluded.
