IO – New Zealand-born basketball coach Sean Pero MacPherson Cameron is happy to have been involved in the IBL Rookie Combine 2019 held from October 9-11 in The Hawk Basketball, Bumi Serpong Damai, Tangerang, Banten.
“It’s proof attention is being paid to young basketball players. In my country there isn’t a program like this. If you want to be a professional player, you have to search and learn yourself,” said coach Pero.
“This shows their seriousness in finding new players for regeneration. I also have talked to Serbian and Lithuanian coaches here. We talked about Indonesian basketball,” he said.
National team coach Rajko Toroman from Serbia and Satria Muda Pertamina coach Milos Pejich and Prawira Bandung coach Giedrius Zibenas from Lithuania also attended the Rookie Combine.
Pero was the New Zealand national basketball team captain from 2000-2010. He brought his team to the FIBA World Championship 2002 semifinals – the farthest the New Zealand team has been. His name is also in the FIBA Hall of Fame.
Pero praised the spirit of young Indonesian basketball players in the Rookie Combine program. “They were good… full of energy and they gave their all.
“If they want to become professional basketball players, they must play more and continue to learn the science of basketball,” he said.
“Work hard, work together, and never give up. These are the keys to becoming a professional player.”
Pero has had a long career. In the late 1980s and in the 1990s Cameron played in the Mobil Marters Northland in the Conference Basketball League, winning in 1991.
In 1992, he played in the New Zealand National Basketball League for the Waikato Warriors. Cameron went on to win the league eleven times, nine as a player and twice as a coach – the most in New Zealand’s history.
Cameron also played in Malaysia with the Ipoh Red Eagles, Chester Jets in England for four seasons, one season for the Turkish team Banvit (from 2005-2016) and half a season for Mahram Teheran in Iran.
Cameron decided to retire as a player after taking part in two Olympics: Sydney 2000 and Athena 2004, and three the FIBA World Cups in 2002, 2006, and 2010.
He started his coaching career in 2010 with the Wellington Saints and won the Coach of the Year award in his first year.
In August 2017, Cameron became New Zealand’s first person in the FIBA Hall of Fame with a reception held on September 30, 2017 in Switzerland.
“Thank you coach Pero for sharing basketball knowledge with Indonesia’s young players!” (rp)