Jakarta (Asia) - Kaleb Ramot Gemilang was on the rise as one of the more promising players in Indonesia back in 2013. Then 22-years-old, he was called up to the senior national team for the South East Asian Games and went on a roll in his rookie season in the Indonesia Basketball League (IBL), averaging 14.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in his first 13 games.

With that much potential, it was hard to imagine that it would take Gemilang nearly 4 years to get called up back up to the national team once again at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Pre-Qualifying rounds in 2018.

"Last year was special because I got injured in 2014 and it’s been a while since the last time I wore that Indonesia jersey. I was so proud and excited," Kaleb expressed.

2018 was quite a year indeed for the 27-year-old forward. He also got called up for the national team at the Asian Games held in his home country, won and MVP award in the IBL, and more importantly won his second IBL title. Gemilang was extremely efficient for Stapac Jakarta, putting up 12.7 points on 56.0 percent field goal shooting, 46.0 percent three-point shooting, and 81.0 percent shooting from the free-throw line. He had lost a bit of his touch over the years ever since his injury in 2014, but this was proved to be a great redemption run.

For Gemilang, none of that was more important than winning the title.

"I was so happy to win the championship," says the 1.84M (6’0”) wing. "The rest is just a bonus for me. That MVP award is not just for me, I dedicated it to all of my teammates and coaches."

Like many other basketball players in the country, Gemilang’s first love was for football before eventually converting to the sport which he thrives in today.

"I started playing in junior high school," Gemilang recalls. "Back then there was no soccer club in my school so my brother pushed me to just play basketball instead."

It turned out to be a pretty good decision. Gemilang grew up idolizing legends like Mario Wuysang and admiring stars like Arki Wisnu as well as Andakara Prastawa. He’s now back to playing alongside those players in the red and white jerseys of the national team. Gemilang lists China as one of the teams he’s interested to play against if the opportunity arises at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers, but he’s just excited to play in the national team setting in general, too.

"It is fun and challenging," Gemilang says. "I’m also happy because I’m able to feel the different culture of basketball from other teams."

At the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Eastern Region Pre-Qualifiers last year, Gemilang had a solid performance averaging 10.0 points and 4.6 boards per game. He has already been called up to an initial national team training camp pool of 15 players, in preparation for the events later in the year. Gemilang continues to be on the rise, but he knows that there is more work to be done.

"First, I have to lose some weight," Gemilang jokingly says.

"It’s all about preparation time," he quickly adds about what Indonesia needs to do for a shot at qualifying to the FIBA Asia Cup. If they succeed, it would be their first time in a decade for “Timnas Basketball” to qualify for the tournament.

"We can’t have preparations too short as usual."

"For me, to help Indonesia qualify this year is something [I want to do]."

FIBA