The Absence of Lester Prosper in Indonesia Game: Not an Advantage for Gilas

The game against Indonesia is definitely one of the rare instances where Gilas Pilipinas will be fielding a line-up that doesn't have a naturalized player. That is despite the fact that the SBP has its own pool of players who could potentially take the place of Andray Blatche as Gilas' naturalized player. 

The Mark Dickel-coached Gilas side who will play in Indonesia as part of the opening window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers will be bannered by a line-up filled with young PBA veterans, incoming PBA rookies, a pair of amateur players, and a college player whose inclusion surprised every basketball fan in the country. Despite a youth-injected core, Gilas Pilipinas is vested with high expectations heading into their road game against the Indonesians. After all, the Rajko Toroman-mentored Indonesian team has been among the ASEAN countries whom Gilas has been beating by big margins. To be exact, the Filipinos have been beating the Indonesians by an average margin of 32 points over the course of the last 5 years which included a 27-point win by the Pinoys in last yea's SEA Games here in our backyard. In other words, Gilas has every advantage against Indonesia. And no, that doesn't include Indonesia not having their naturalized player in Lester Prosper- something that team captain Kiefer Ravena pointed out.

Lester Prosper's name may sound familiar for PBA fans because he has, in fact, played in the PBA, and will be doing so during this year's Commissioner's Cup for the CJ Perez-led Columbian Dyip.  With Prosper out of the picture of Indonesia, the Indonesians' best player on their team will be Arki Winsu who also played for their national team whom Gilas faced last December. Still, Gilas Pilipinas can not afford to be complacent against an Indonesian side that they have been beating by 30 points in their last few encounters because as Kiefer Ravena pointed out, playing against a depleted team on their homecourt is not going to be easy. While the scenario where Indonesia will stun the Filipinos has a low chance of actually happening, it doesn't mean that it cannot happen because unlike Gilas who will be fielding a young team, this Indonesia core has been together for years already. And Rajko Toroman is at the helm for Indonesia so he always has something under his sleeves. 

In the words of The Phenom, Gilas Pilipinas must play hard against Indonesia. Even with Lester Prosper out of the picture. 

Photo is from X-Games