Brunei have a bright future in basketball

Dear Editor,

FIRST off, I'd like to thank The Brunei Times for a good and extensive coverage of the 2011 Aewon Cup. It was a pleasure to read BT's articles on the July 23-Aug 20 tournament. Keep up the good work!

Secondly, congratulations to Easyway/CK Tang — whose roster was made up of national cagers — for winning the 2011 Aewon Cup. Having said that, I must also congratulate them for their victory in the Borneo Cup earlier this month.

Two titles in a month — a great accomplishment indeed for national basketball coach Kevin Reece, who also coaches Easyway, and his players.

And looking at their perfor-mances — both at the Borneo Cup in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and the recently-concluded Aewon Cup at Batu Bersurat — I hope Reece will keep the team's core group of players intact.

The American coach 'has discovered his winning formula' — according to BT's article on Aug 7 — quoting Reece, after winning Brunei's first Borneo Cup title, as saying: "Brunei have finally got their own big three Ben Sim, Esmond Tan and Muhd Zainul (Muhd Zainul Ashyraf Hj Hussin), our enforcer Benjamin Lim and overall floor general Choo Yung Jian. I believe with these core players, Brunei have a bright future in basketball."

Having discovered a winning team, Reece must now let them play and grow together as a unit. Remember, they say not to change a winning horse.

Tan and Lim didn't play for Easy-way during the Aewon Cup, but Sim, Muhd Zainul and Choo were the mainstays of Easyway's successful campaign at the tournament.

Backed by a good bench — blending youth and experience — albeit not so deep, Reece led the team to a 7-1 record at the tournament. Easyway's only defeat at the Aewon Cup came at the hands of D'Babes/Sharks also their final opponents — in the second round, when they fell 68-80.

But they showed in Saturday's final — just a day after a very tough and taxing semi-final against one of the tournament favourites MK Syarikat Jazmar — that the defeat was not in vain. Learning from that painful experience, Reece made adjustments to his team and they worked like a charm.

This shows that the team has physical and mental strength, built-in flexibility, a great desire to win and — most importantly — the right personnel as well as enough talent to deliver.

As a sports fan I'm fully aware that basketball is a team game, but I just have to say bravo Choo Yung Jian aka 'Jian-pion' for his game winning layup against D'Babes on Saturday.

A very quick and talented player, Choo is a pleasure to watch. Only 23 years of age I hope Reece will help him achieve his true potential.

Once again congratulations, but as the champions of Borneo and Brunei Reece and his players must work even harder because now everybody wants to beat them.

Madridista, Gadong