David Singleton Recruited, National Basketball Team Improves

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The appointment of David Singleton as the new head coach brings a breath of fresh air to the Indonesian national basketball team. The man from the United States has proven to be the best coach with a career in Indonesia and has consistently succeeded in developing the quality of players.

The national team welcomes a new era. After experimenting with the services of local coach Johanis Winar, the National Team Agency (BTN) has finally re-hired a foreign coach. Singleton was announced as the new coach through BTN's official Instagram social media account on Monday (21/4/2025) evening WIB.

"We know that the final results (of the previous coach) were not optimal. We believe that this coaching staff is the best arrangement for the Indonesian national basketball team at present. We hope to leverage the experience gained over the past five years," stated the BTN in an official statement.

Singleton, currently the Head Coach of Prawira Bandung, will bring his assistant from the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) club, Andri Malay. He is also supported by Johanis, who will return to serve as an assistant coach for the national team, as he did during the Milos Pejic era (2022-2024).

Johanis practically led the national team for less than half a year, since Pejic's contract expired in October 2024. Indonesia's performance was poor during Johanis's era. The national team lost four consecutive matches in the ongoing qualification for the 2025 Asian Cup, resulting in their failure to qualify and finishing at the bottom of the group.

The appointment of Singleton brings great hope. Although he is a foreign coach, he is very familiar with the basketball culture of the country. He has been coaching in the IBL since 2020. He has been with three clubs, namely Pacific Caesar Surabaya (2020), Bima Perkasa Jogja (2021), and Prawira (2022-present).

His achievements are unquestionable. Singleton was selected as the IBL Coach of The Year for four consecutive seasons, from 2021-2024. He also managed to lead Prawira to the league championship in the 2023 season. It was the first title from the Bandung representative after a 25-year drought.

The coach born in San Francisco, California, has always been able to turn underdog teams into “dark horses” contenders for the title. All the clubs he has coached have always entered the playoffs. When he won with Prawira, the favorites that season were two teams from the capital, Pelita Jaya and Satria Muda.

Singleton is very suitable for training a developing team, such as the national team. He adheres to the Kaizen principle, which originates from Japanese culture. In this principle, the process is the most important aspect. Everything can improve through small changes made consistently.

That principle was applied to the players. One of the national team players who was once coached by Singleton is Reza Guntara, during his time at Prawira. Reza stated that the coach always encouraged them to enjoy the process and not to focus solely on the big goals. He was trained to delve into the small details of the game until he became an expert.

The approach of the coach, known for being a perfectionist and highly disciplined, has proven to produce many new stars in Indonesia. Reza is the best example, having transformed from an average player to a regular member of the national team today. Singleton is adept at identifying and developing hidden talents.

For Singleton, the appointment feels like a dream come true. He has repeatedly expressed his desire to join the national team one day because Indonesia has many great talents and can achieve more. "Coaching the national team is actually my goal," he said.

Singleton's experience can also assist the national team in competing at the Asian level. Before his career in Indonesia, he had the opportunity to play in various countries such as New Zealand and Vietnam. He also successfully led Saigon Heat to victory in the Vietnam League in 2019.

Heavy challenges await Singleton. The national team has indeed struggled to make a significant impact in the past two years. However, high standards have been established during Pejic's era. The Serbian coach successfully delivered the first SEA Games gold medal for the national team in 2022.

In addition to achieving success at the SEA Games, Indonesia must also elevate its level by regularly participating in higher-level competitions. The Asian Cup, for instance. The last time the national team played in the Asian Cup was in 2022, when they qualified directly as the host nation.

Certainly, time will be crucial for Singleton. He needs more time to build a long-term national team framework. Meanwhile, Indonesia has changed coaches four times since 2019. This number is not ideal for a team that is in the process of development.