Liga Bumiputera to join Streetball Brunei

Team manager Wira Pori (L) and head coach Hj Md Sofrian Hj Md Yusof (seventh from left) with the players. Picture: BT/Yee Chun Leong

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

THE all-Malay Liga Bumiputera are set to face their first test of the year when they compete in the annual Streetball Brunei 2010 which will start in the first week of March.

The last outing by the local cagers was in the LBC Cup organised by the Filipino Basketball Association (FBA) in October last year where they failed to make it into the quarter-finals.

"We are playing as a guest team but we're in the competition to prove that we can compete against the higher level players," said Wira Pori, the manager-cum-player of Liga Bumiputera, in an interview with The Brunei Times, yesterday.

"This is a good way for us to test and water and see where we stand against the big names amongst the Filipino players in the country," added Wira.

"We have a few changes in the line-up as we managed to attract some new talents to come and join us," continued Wira.

However, the team will still be missing the services of key players such as Ahmad Termizi HJ Nordeen and Zainul Ashyraf HUssin who are both away for their studies.

Despite that, Wira assures that the team are ready and expecting a good outing this time around with Barracudas reserves, Hj Md Rahmat HJ Suhaili and Jamri Ramlee, spearheading the team.

"We train two to three times a week in preparations for this. We are seeing this as some sort of tune up to prepare us and further improve for future competitions," said the manager.

In addition, the some of the players are undergoing training with the new national basketball coach, Kevin Reece, to help them develop further.

"Now with coach Reece having his development programme underway, we have some players joining and we have seen progress," said Wira.

"We're just going to utilise all the experience that the national coach has and learn as much as possible," concluded Wira.

A total of 13 teams separated into three groups are competing in the tournament.

Group A are made up of the GILR Wildcats, ISS Forex, Jinks and Liga Bumiputera while Group B comprised of Hope, KTC (Kiraong Tuesday Club), Ilocandia, Sold and Pizza Hut. Read More...

Source: TBT