Unbeaten Thailand tests mettle vs Indonesia

Wutipong Dasom. PBA IMAGES

Racking up two straight wins to open the 2017 Seaba Championship, Thai forward Wutipong Dasom believes the first real test for his team will be against Indonesia on Sunday.

“That’s the biggest test for us because Indonesia, we’re always head-to-head,” he said. “The Philippines has always been on top, but us, Indonesia, and Malaysia have always been head-to-head.”

“If we can beat Indonesia, win by one or two points, how we beat them is going to make the difference. We’ll see when we get there.”

Dasom didn’t put much weight on Thailand’s 76-51 win over Vietnam on Saturday, saying that though going up 2-0 early in the standings is good, what’s better was seeing the team play up to its potential despite missing main gunner Chitchai Ananti.

Ananti is recovering from a minor left leg injury he sustained against Malaysia on Friday.

“That’s the great thing about basketball, it’s a team sport. If you have that chemistry, when one player’s out, other people step up. You work together as a team to take over if someone has an injury. We didn’t feel Chitchai’s absence. We played the same way we play with him or without him,” said the 26-year-old.

Thailand needs Ananti back if it wants to compete against the good teams.

But regardless of their teammate’s status, Dasom is hopeful that the early wins will give Thailand some momentum heading into its showdown against Indonesia.

“In all honesty, the teams we played aren’t the competition we’re preparing for. Not that it wasn’t competitive, but the games were good for us to work on our game and get warmed up for what really matters in this competition which are Indonesia and the Philippines. That’s where we really have to perform against, to see where we stand in Southeast Asia,” he said.