Indonesian star Brandon Jawato. FIBA BASKETBALL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Indonesia will have to make do without its main offensive weapon Brandon Jawato in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers next month in Clark.
According to Indonesia head coach Rajko Toroman, the Indonesian-American swingman will miss the qualifiers due to an injury.
“Our expectations are not so big because our best player Brandon Jawato is injured which has hurt us a lot. Our expectation is to not to lose more than 14 points against Thailand at this moment,” said Toroman on Noli Eala’s Power and Play show.
The 6-foot-4 Jawato led Indonesia with 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a 90-76 win over Thailand in the previous window last November.
Indonesia will also miss its top prospect in 18-year-old Derrick Michael Xzavierro.
The 6-foot-8 Xzavierro is in Australia after joining the NBA Global Academy.
Indonesia, which will spearheaded by its naturalized player Lester Prosper, opens its campaign against Korea on June 17 before facing Gilas Pilipinas on June 19 and Thailand on June 20.
“I don’t think that, at this moment, without Brandon we can touch the Philippines and Korea, we’ll try our best, we will do a lot of effort and for me it’s not about winning or losing against the Philippines and Korea. The point is to improve, to be more and more competitive,” Toroman said.