PETALING JAYA: National men’s basketball team captain Wong Yi Hou feels it is not a bad idea if Malaysia were to go ahead with bringing in naturalised players.
Yi Hou, who plays as a guard with the national team, agrees with the plan to recruit naturalised players and believes that it will benefit local players as well.
The Malaysian football team already have naturalised players in service.
“It will be a major breakthrough if naturalised players could be used for the basketball team,” said the 26-year-old Yi Hou.
“Judging from the previous SEA Games, almost every team have their own naturalised players to back them up because Asians are relatively small in size.
“Having naturalised players could make a huge difference in terms of stabilising the team.”
Instead of stunting the development of the national basketball team, Yi Hou believes that naturalised players can play a big role in enhancing the team and sharing responsibilities with local players.
“Basketball is not a one-person sport and it requires teamwork. We will not hand over all the responsibilities to naturalised players but will work together with them.
“Players could be more focused on the match and play more openly with the support of naturalised players because there will be someone helping with rebounds or ‘cleaning up’,” said Yi Hou.
Nigerian basketball player Henry Iloka is one of the international players who are in the Malaysia Basketball Association’s (Maba) radar.
He will be attending a trial with the national men’s team next week to see if he can fit into Maba’s plans.
Maba president Datuk Seri Lee Tian Hock mentioned earlier that they hope to get naturalised players into the national team for the Cambodia SEA Games next year.
