Sealey brings winds of change

09/03/1999

THE National Sports Council (NSC) and Malaysian Amateur Basketball
Association (Maba) have yet to draw up his contract, but former NBA
professional Felton Sealey is not one to waste time on formalities.
A handshake with Maba secretary Yeoh Choo Hock was all he needed to
start training the national cagers to achieve a golden target at the
Brunei Sea Games in August.
"There is only a verbal contract and I work on a day-to-day basis right
now, but I was made to understand my services will be needed until the
2001 Sea Games, which Malaysia will host," said Sealey.
He arrived in Malaysia from Oregon on March 2 and in the words of Maba deputy secretary Tan See Wah: "He took off his winter boots and started training the boys."
Sealey is not one to dwell on past records, not even his coaching and
playing days.
"I work on the present and right now, my job is to fix the Malaysian
team, to fix their attitude, to fix their fitness. There is no point in
judging by past records," said Sealey.
He did not mince his words when he described the state of the Malaysian
cagers.
"None of them are fit to play basketball at national or professional
level. It is a well known fact all over the world that a player must work
on his fitness and be ready for any call-up so that the coach does not
waste time and can go into the game plan straight away.
"None of them came prepared on fitness and I'll now have to spend some
time at the NSC gymnasium getting them into shape."
His seven-day schedule starts with shooting and skills training from 8am
to 10am. Three days have been reserved for weight training while in the
evenings, from 6pm to 8pm, it is time for team offence and defence.
Sealey ended his playing career in 1981 when he was drafted by the
Phoenix Suns of the NBA and his last assignment was to whip a respectable
Thailand side for last December's Asian Games. Thailand finished sixth in the 12-team competition.
Sealey, who has coached teams in the Philippines, Indonesia, Kuwait and
China, handed the national cagers a list of what he expects from them
during training.
The gist of it is that when the cagers enter Maba Stadium for training,
practice begins and they will be expected to work. Horsing around and
profanities are forbidden, not even in the locker room.
(END)