2011 FIBA ABC Review: China win final over Jordan; India end 14th

Oh, it was all good just a few weeks ago. In India's first game at the 2011 FIBA Asia Basketball Championship, we held a seven point lead in the final quarter over Lebanon, a team ranked 26 places above us in the FIBA world rankings. We ended up losing that game, by the way, and then, losing everything else that came in our way. A week later, our campaign ended with a loss to Indonesia as we finished the championship at 14th place. That was a depressing finish to my cautiously optimistic hopes before the tournament. Now, the tournament is over, and after weeks of unpredictable and exciting basketball, there is a familiar name at the top of the rankings.

In front of an electric crowd in Wuhan, hosts China rose to the top of FIBA Asia after a silver medal two years ago by edging out the tough Jordan side 70-69 in a classic final of the championship on Sunday. Led by tournament MVP Yi Jianlian, China claimed the gold medal and booked their place in the 2012 Olympic Games basketball tournament in London.

The final win was a culmination of a perfect 9-0 record in the competition. China lifted the FIBA ABC trophy for the 15th time.

Jordan walked out of the arena with their heads held high having entered the gold medal game for the first time. Jordan did extremely well beyond expectations to keep the contest even till the final buzzer. Despite finishing 2nd in their preliminary round group, and fourth in the second round group, Jordan did the impossible by defeating last year's champs Iran in a classic Quarter Final and then getting a win over a strong Philippines side in the Semis.

For China, Yi accounted for 11 of his team-high 25 points in the third quarter. Yi also had 16 points in the final. Yi continues to confound me, as he is such a dominant force back home but a super-flop in the NBA. Supposed to be China's next big thing after Yao, Yi has bounced around 3 NBA teams in the past four years, and has put up just 8.5 ppg in the course of his career, where he has never been able to earn major NBA minutes. He had his worst year with the Wizards last season, playing only 17.7 minutes a game and putting up just 5.6 ppg. He comes back home and completely DOMINATES Asia, averaging 16.6 ppg and 10.8 rpg as MVP of the championship.

Rasheim Wright was at the vanguard of the Jordanian cause in the Final with a game-high 26 points.

Earlier on Sunday, the 3rd/4th place match-up between Korea and Philippines was also a nail biting affair, won by Korea 70-68. Sungmin Cho led the way for Korea with 20 points. The high-scorers for Philippines were Marcus Douthit (27) and Jim Alapag (17).

Final Standings:

1. China

2. Jordan

3. Korea

4. Philippines

5. Iran

All Tournament Team:

PG: Osama Daghles (Jordan)

SG: Takuya Kawamura (Japan)

SF: Samad Nikkah Bahrami (Iran)

PF: Yi Jianlian (China) - MVP

C: Hamed Haddadi (Iran)

Meanwhile, the Indian contingent completed the tournament with a 1-4 record to end at 14th place. That record is misleading, by the way, because India didn't exactly 'win' a single game at the tournament: we were handed a victory in our 13-16 classification game over Qatar without even playing them. Qatar were made to forfeit their games after their players 'deliberately lost' a couple of earlier games after five of their players were disqualified without proper nationality documentation.

And we started off as well as we possibly could! Grouped with tough Lebanon and Korea, and with Malaysia, a team we were expected to beat, India needed just one win to move on to the next round. India played without a consistent starting lineup: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Jagdeep Singh, and Yadwinder Singh were our regular starters, and the other two places were rotated between Hareesh Koroth, TJ Sahi, and Trideep Rai.

We almost got our one win unexpectedly, against Lebanon. After trailing by 13 at the end of halftime, India went on an epic third quarter run, perhaps the finest quarter of basketball played by the Indian men's team in recent history, as they outscored the superpower Lebanon 32-14 behind a barrage of three and two pointers by Hareesh Koroth and TJ Sahi.

Less than two minutes away from the final buzzer, India held a one-point lead and were on the verge of making history. But a heroic performance by Lebanon's Jean Abd El Nour denied India its chance at history, as Lebanon survived to win 71-68. El Nour scored eight of his game-high 24 points in the dying minutes of the game to defeat the enthusiastic Indian outfit.

Hareesh Koroth had 20 points for India and TJ Sahi added 18.

The game against Malaysia the next night was to be our make or break game: we are ranked much higher than them, and if we had won, we would've immediately improved to our 13th place ranking from 2009 and had a chance to move into the final 12. But an end game burst by Malaysia saw them emerge as 71-67 winners and virtually clinched their place in the second round, giving India another last-minute heartbreak.

The game swung back and forth like a pendulum: India fell back once again at halftime in this match-up trailing to their opponents by 16 points at the break. But once again, India showed their third-quarter resolve, outscoring Malaysia 24-12 in the period and bringing the game close again. The fourth quarter see-sawed between both the sides, and with the game tied in the final minutes, lower-ranked Malaysia made a final run to edge out a close win.

Malaysia were led by Ban Sin Ooi, who scored 20 points in the game, although the game's best individual performance came from India's experienced big man Jagdeep Singh Bains, who had a heroic 25 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

We were never expected to challenge Korea in our final group game, and we didn't: Korea scored the first eight points of the game and only grew in strength thereafter before romping through for a 84-53 win against India on Saturday to complete their Group A engagements with an all-win record. It was India's third consecutive loss in the tournament, which saw them finish at the bottom of the group and eliminated from the second round.

Trideep Rai’s 11 points was the only double digit score for India. Despite the disappointment, coach Natt looked at the positives after the game and commented: "We have a long way in terms of going anywhere in Asian competitions. But I think we are making a start with this young team."

Out of the Second Round and forced to settle for 13-16 qualification, India got a lucky break when we were handed a 20-0 win against Qatar because of the forfeit. We played Indonesia in the 13/14th place match, a team that, with all of our revamped efforts we should've defeated. But like our effort against Malaysia earlier, we once again came up short. India trailed most of the way in the competitive game and failed to close the gap between the two sides, as Indonesia won 84-75.

India’s sharp-shooter Hareesh Koroth continued his bright showing at the championship, with 22 points off the bench to lead all scorers in the game. India were close the whole game, and trailed by just seven points at halftime. Indonesia continued to slowly extend their lead, and a decent fourth quarter by the Indian side was a little too late to prevent the loss.

This tournament was the first large scale international exposure for the Indian team under new NBA coach Kenny Natt. Despite the low ranking, India showed flashes of their potential under the new coach, highlighted with the near-upset of Lebanon in their first game. It's tough to say why we under-performed against Malaysia and Indonesia, but perhaps the near-slaying of the giants Lebanon, and the eventual loss, may have been crushed the players' spirits a bit.

This tournament also gave the chance to several young Indian players to gain valuable experience, and the likes of Amjyot Singh and Amrit Pal Singh stepped up to make their contributions to the squad. Amjyot is the one player who really excites me for the future: playing limited minutes of the bench, Amjyot led India in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and had several important hustle points. Amjyot also averaged 1.8 blocks per game, good enough for second-place in the tournament, only to Iran's Hamed Haddadi, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies!

With 1.8 steals per game, India's TJ Sahi finished at joint first place with Sun Yue (China), Osama Daghles (Jordan), and Ibrahim Ahmad (UAE) in steals average.

Our best player was Hareesh Koroth, who led the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and was our only consistent scoring threat. Jagdeep Singh played pretty well, too, averaging 12.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg in the championship.

The biggest disappointment was Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, our former captain and a personal favourite of mine. Playing major minutes, and usually, a major offensive force, Vishesh had 17 points TOTAL in the tournament, averaging just 4.3 points per game shooting an awful 16 perfect from the field. Ugh!

All the stats above, by the way, were compiled by Siddharth Sharma for SportsKeeda.

At the end, our ranking actually fell one place from 13th to 14th this year. So, where do we go from here? I made a note in a post last week about India's glaring weakness - the point guard position - and Coach Kenny Natt's desperate need to find a consistent general to lead our side. Beyond that, the future doesn't look too bad for us, actually. This tournament ended on a sad note, but we have a *very* young squad who will only get stronger with this experience. I am talking about our young under 20 bigs Amjyot and Amrit Pal who are on a fast-track to improvement. And of course there's 15 year old Satnam Singh Bhamara, who got limited minutes in the tournament but will be better off with the exposure of this big stage.

Natt had only a few months with this team to not only raise the talent level of the players at hand, but to also attempt to change the culture and improve the system of hoops in India. With this championship over, he now has two more years until the next one, two more years to train the future crop of Indian players, and to help us make that long-awaited 'baby step' improvement on the international stage.

Congrats for the win China; and India will be looking forward to 2013.

Start dribbling kids; India needs a point guard

When I was younger, one of my favourite movies was the Michael Jordan/Bugs Bunny starrer Space Jam (Unshameful disclosure: it still is one of my favourites, actually). What I loved almost as much as the movie though was the soundtrack. Chris Rock and Barry White captured it best when speaking about the emotions of a young wannabe basketball star in 'Basketball Jones'.

Then one day, my mama bought me a basketball
And I loved that basketball
I took that basketball with me everywhere I went
That basketball was like a basketball to me
I even put that basketball underneath my pillow
Maybe that's why I can't sleep at night

Aah. How I wish to see the day when hundreds and thousands of young kids in India will grow up with the 'Jones'. When they fall in love with a basketball as much as they love the cricket bat. When they keep dribbling, day and night, so that the by the time they grow up the basketball becomes an extension to their own body.

No position on the basketball court has more of a 'basketball-an-extension-to-the-body' feel than the point guard. The PG spends (or should spent) more time than any other player on the court with the basketball in their hands, and in my opinion, clearly is the most important guy on the court.

Point guards are in fashion, aren't they; well at least, in the NBA world they are. Derrick Rose won the MVP award and made it possible for a point guard, for the smallest man on the court, to be a volume scorer and be in a fantastic winning team. Iverson of course did it first, but he was never strictly a PG; the likes of Eric Snow were deputised to bring the ball up for him and them let him go ballistic.

Where am I going with this? Well, a few months ago, the NBA brought over Brandon Jennings to India, another 6 foot tall (or short, by NBA standards) point guard who preached the good word that we didn't need to be tall to be an effective basketball player. It's an easy message to be bought by the Indian hoops loving public, because seven-footers (or six-foot-nines, or six-foot-sixes) are a difficult commodity to find. It was the same in China, of course, a country made popular in basketball by Yao Ming, but in reality, most of their aspiring stars, like ours are much shorter and dream of moulding their game in the Iverson/Rose/Nash/Paul etc blueprint.

So, selling point guards in India should be easy, right? If anything, we should be teeming with point guards behind every nook and cranny, basti, and gullie, right?

Wrong.

India is in desperate need of a point guard, or two. Our national team's performances at the FIBA Asia Championship (ABC) in China over the past week proved this point even further. India played four games, lost them all (even the ones we should've won). Our only 'win' was a Qatar forfeit, and we returned with a 14th place finish. It was a disappointing performance, and one that I will get into in more detail when the tournament finishes.

India hired former NBA coach Kenny Natt to be our head coach. Natt, a brilliant and experienced leader, has had some experience with good point guards in the past: he was the assistant coach to Jerry Sloan with the Utah Jazz, where a certain John Stockton (you know, one of the best PGs ever, who holds the NBA record for most career assists and steals blah blah blah) was at the helm. Natt chose to take a different challenge by coming to India, and even before the FIBA ABC began, he made clear that, despite his happiness with the team at hand, there was a little 'situation' in the point guard position.

This is what he said in an interview with The Mint at the beginning of August:

We’re pretty good with our small forwards, and the two guard, and four and five are in pretty good shape too, but our point guard situation is in limbo. Obviously Sambhaji (Kadam) has taken the lead in that respect. He’s a veteran and he’s shown leadership on the floor, but with his age who knows how long his body is going to hold up.

Sambhaji Kadam is the 'Jason Kidd' of Indian players: a smary, savvy veteran, known for years to be one of India's best ball handlers and creators. He wasn't without fault in his prime of course, but few are.

Unfortunately, Natt's worries about Kadam proved to be right, as an injury prevented the veteran from joining the team in China.

What happened next? India were left with able ball-handlers, who weren't strictly point guards, but were forced to play out of position without our one true leader. Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, a natural SG/SF, is a great all-round talent, but had a troubling championship because he forced to handle the ball too much and couldn't get into his natural flow of the game. Hareesh Koroth is one of the team's best shooters and perimeter defenders, but his handle and creation has always been kind of iffy. Prakash Mishra is a good guard, but not up to the elite level. And then there's Talwinder Singh 'TJ' Sahi, India's best answer to 'The Answer', who has modeled his game a little too much around Iverson: Sahi is a brilliant scorer but wasn't the kind of floor general/passer that fulfilled Natt's needs.

India did have, in my opinion, someone I felt who was close to the 'ideal' PG to fill in Sambhaji's exalted shoes: Arjun 'Golu' Singh. Arjun Singh is one of the best floor generals I have seen, and who has shown the ability to switch between perfect provider and perfect scorer with ease. But Golu has had a troubled year since his huge performance at the Federation Cup back in February: he suffered an injury that kept him out of the early days at the National camp in Delhi; then, when he was healthy enough to participate, he was found guilty of a minor illegal substance misuse issue; and then he got hurt again. He's still only 21 and may still make that comeback, but we wonder if he will ever live up to the potential that India needs of him.

There are other options of course. Experienced players who are just not good enough to make the cut. Young players with potential to be decent but not great. We need better than that.

After three losses at the FIBA ABC, and three games without a proper PG, this is what Natt said in an interview with FIBA.com:

Natt... I have been around long enough to know it's very hard to compete without a point guard, they're an extension of the coach out on the floor. Our guys have played hard without a point guard, they've shown they can come out and compete.
FIBA: Is it hard to develop point guards without little kids growing up in India with a ball in their hands, playing the game every day?
NATT: That's the way it happens. Even now I see basketballs being bounced in India, and that's when you know you are getting there. When you can drive down the street and you see the ball under the arm, or someone's dribbling the ball or they're playing basketball in the park, that's when you know they're getting the message of basketball. The Indian people love it, it's just a matter of us continuing to expose them to it.

What the great coach is talking about right there is what Chris Rock and Barry White talked about on the Space Jam soundtrack. The Basketball Jones. We need a child to love basketball so much that he never lets go of it. We need neighbourhoods of children competing on who's got the quickest crossover. We need players who become so familiar with the basketball that, in the game situations, they can focus on leading, passing, and creating the play, and letting the basketball do the handling for itself, like an extension of their own body.

So listen: you, 11-year-old in Mumbai or Ahmedabad or Chennai or Kapurthala, with dreams of becoming an NBA star: pick up that basketball and just start dribbling. Dribbling it when you're sitting down. Dribble it when you're standing up. Dribble it when you're studying and dribble it when you're watching TV. Dribble two basketballs, practice the crossover, get faster, dribble while you run, dribble, stop, and quickly start dribbling again.

As I've learnt from personal experience, few things in basketball are as difficult to master as great handle on the ball, but the younger you start, the more you master it. When you master it, you can look up and see the court, run back and forth, easily spotting the open man, deciding the right time to pass, or whether to pass at all. You will do what the Jason Kidds, Steve Nashs, Chris Pauls, John Stocktons, and Magic Johnsons of the world do best. And you will do this without needing to look down at the basketball, which will be doing the dribbling itself; it will become another part of your body, a weirdly-shaped limb that you can control to a certain extent.

India needs you kids: go out and get that Basketball Jones.

India's Sr. Men's team return to camp in Delhi

The Indian Sr. Men’s basketball team, who qualified for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship (ABC) last month after winning the Middle Asia Zone Qualifiers, have returned to camp with head coach Kenny Natt at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi from August 6th. In addition to the 12-man roster that participated in the qualifiers last month, six more probables have been invited for the camp, which will last until September 11.

The FIBA Asia Championship for Men will be held in Wuhan, China, from September 15-25, 2011. India have been placed in Group A along with Lebanon, Malaysia, and Korea.

Senior Men’s team probables:

Jagdeep Singh Bains (Punjab)

Satnam Singh Bhamara (IMG Academy/Punjab)

Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Indian Railways)

Narender Kumar Garewal* (Services)

Sambhaji Kadam (Services)

Hareesh Koroth (Tamil Nadu)

Prakash Mishra (Indian Railways)

Abhilek Paul* (Tamil Nadu)

Eudrick Pereira (Kerala)

Basil Phillip* (Kerala)

Trideep Rai (Uttarakhand)

Riyazuddin (Uttarakhand)

Talwinderjit Singh Sahi* (Punjab)

Dishant Shah* (Gujarat)

Amrit Pal Singh (Punjab)

Amjyot Singh (Punjab)

Kiran Pal Singh* (Indian Railways)

Yadwinder Singh (Indian Railways)

Head Coach: Kenny Natt

Assistant Coach: Rajender Singh

Assistant Coach: Pawan Kumer

Strength & Conditioning Coach: Zak Penwell

Physiotherapist: Anand Dube

The good news is that, in bringing back the same squad into camp that defeated Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by a margin of nearly 68 points a game, Coach Natt has ensured a sense of continuity at the camp. I've marked an (*) against the name of the six new players who have been invited as probables for the next month or so. The most exciting of these names, of course, is Talwinderjit Singh, or TJ Sahi, who is also known as the man who dunked over a Mumbai taxi! In a recent interview with The Mint, Natt conceded that the point guard situation was in limbo: Sambhaji Kadam, India's ageless wonder, had a good run in the MAZ qualifiers, but there are questions about his age/sustainability at the highest level. This is where Sahi could come in and contribute automatically.

Sahi missed the earlier cut of 12 because of personal reasons, and now the pressure will be surely on him to integrate himself in this team if he wants to go to China with them.

Of course, the rest of the usual suspects are back and will be looking to continue their confident run: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Jagdeep Singh Bains, and Yadwinder Singh. As I had noted after the qualifiers, what makes this team special is the balance of youth, experience, and prime. The youth quota looks especially interesting as the team as three under-20 players who are all 6 foot 9 and above: Amrit Pal Singh, Amjyot Singh, and 15-year-old, 7 foot 1 wonder, Satnam Singh Bhamara. I also like the addition of another talented young big - Dishant Shah of Gujarat - to the team.

The tournament in China is a little over a month away, and Natt will cut his roster down to 12 again for the championship. Malaysia, Korea, and Lebanon are obviously going to present competition of a much higher order than our South Asian neighbours. Let's hope that, between now and then, Team India continue to improve enough to at least give the superior teams a run for their money.

TJ Sahi: 'Air India' still taking flight

There are few personalities in Indian basketball as simultaneously exciting and enigmatic, unifying and divisive, and polarising in every sense of the word, as Talwinderjit Singh “TJ” Sahi. Fans know of him as the explosive dunker, as the man with one of the quickest crossover dribbles in the country, as a man who stood face to face against Chinese superstar Yi Jianlian. And they know him as the same man who has suffered years of being boxed away from the elite status due a host of personal and professional problems, as the rebel of Indian Basketball.

During the Indian All Star Game and the Ramu Memorial Tournament in Mumbai a few weeks ago, I finally got my chance to spend some time and speak to TJ.

TJ Sahi is anything but bashful – but it’s not considered bragging if you can back it up. TJ was the first player in Indian Basketball to borrow the streetball game and bring it to the elites. But like many stories of Indian basketball stars, the journey didn’t exactly begin with basketball.

Born into a family of athletes, and to a father, a national record holder in Decathlon, who encouraged him to take up track and field, TJ rebelled for the first time. “When I was only around 10 years old, my father wanted me to focus on running, and then allowed us to take time off later by playing other sports,” says TJ, “My brother and I discovered a basketball court nearby and started to compete against several American players. It was exciting and brought me into the game.”

It was playing with the Americans that the streetball swagger came into TJ’s game. Always undersized (he stands at 6 foot 1 inch now), TJ had his doubters, who told him that he could never be good enough to dominate a basketball game. This is when he found his perfect idol in the NBA: Allen Iverson.

“I used to spend day and night watching Iverson highlights,” said TJ, “He is my inspiration – I would try to copy his moves into my game as much as possible. Like me, he was also very small, but he didn’t let that stop him – he became one of the most dominating players in the league and even won an MVP award.”

Shades of AI are clearly present in TJ: The quick first step, the deadly crossover dribble, the fearless drives to the basket, the pound-for-pound toughness on court that Iverson exhibited in his heydays. “I was the first one to start copying the NBA players in India!” grinned TJ, “And then the rest started copying me here.”

And then, his legend grew – TJ finally got his break as a Junior for Punjab in 2004, and it here that he played the tournament of his life. In a knockout game of this competition, due to an injury to the starting point guard, TJ got his chance to step on the court for his team. With his first move, he broke his defender of off a quick dribble and attacked the basket, laying it in for an easy two. He didn’t look back after that, going for 38 points in the second quarter alone and then riding his confidence all the way to the tournament’s final.

The early returns were great: following on his older brother’s footsteps, TJ also made his entry into the Indian national team. He represented the country in several Asian tournaments since then, including being part of the squad that played at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

TJ’s basketball career in India came to a screeching, temporary halt a few years ago – he had decided to follow his older brother to the US to explore other opportunities. It was during this exile from India that he found hoops again on the other side of the world.

In San Jose, California, TJ began to make a name for himself once again. He played for several local leagues, especially leagues featuring Indians in California, and the dominating spring in his step returned. He played in several recreational tournaments around the state, and his explosive above-the-rim play earned him the ‘Air India’ moniker.

But after two years, a tragedy back in his home country brought the ‘Air’ back to ‘India’. “My father passed away in 2008, leaving my mother alone – both me and my older brother were in California. My mother’s health became worse and she suffered some close calls. I realised that I would have to return home to take care of her."

The homecoming also presented an opportunity for TJ to reignite his Punjab basketball career. As a regular for the side, he has become one of the most popular players in the state and across the country. He was recently named to one of the sides at the Indian All Star Game, and a night before participated in the three-point shooting and dunk competitions. It was here, that, TJ achieved the incredible: grabbing an alley-oop to dunk over a kali-peeli taxi.

Today, he remains one of the most potent weapons for the talented Punjab team, leading from the point and scoring buckets at a high volume. With his all-time favourite Iverson now fading his career away in Turkey, TJ has a new favourite now, another small, tough, fiery scorer.

“Derrick Rose,” says TJ, “He is the best player now – He is fast and athletic – he plays with his heart, and is the most like Iverson right now.”

TJ’s fan-base will certainly be hoping that TJ’s career curve doesn’t end the way Iverson’s did, and instead, is re-ignited the way that Rose has started his. TJ has had his past problems with authority, with coaches, and even with teammates, but when it comes to the game of basketball, he remains loyal and disciplined.

“I have gone through a lot of troubles in my life, and it was all for basketball,” TJ said, “I am what I am today because of the game. People recognise me for what I have done on the court. If you take basketball away from me, I am zero.”

At the Ramu Memorial Tournament, after the first day of games, TJ saw that his on-court accomplishments had found him an unexpected fan. “Even the man who was sweeping the court after the game approached me and complimented my game,” said TJ, “It feels good that all this has happened because of basketball.”

In Mumbai, a city where Indian basketball is adorned and its stars readily recognised, TJ continues to see a burgeoning fan base. At the Indian All Star Game in Nagpada, more than a dozen young kids crowded around him, seeking advice and inspiration.

He talks to the kids about how to become a better jumper, a better dribbler, but more than anything, he talks to them about heart. “To be all you can be, you need to believe, deep down in your heart, that you’re better than your opponent,” he tells an aspiring young baller.

But apart from the occasional words with the kids, TJ spends his pre-game time alone, practicing and psyching himself up, all by himself. He tells me that he realises how important it is to be an athlete before becoming a basketball player, something that his track-and-field background has taught him well. He also realises that unlike a 100 meter dash, where all that can come between him and victory is his own potential, he has to rely on four other players on the court to win in a basketball game.

“Sometimes I do wish to go back to focus on running,” says TJ, “If I get a chance, I will participate in track-and-field again – but ultimately, there’s nothing better than basketball.”

“Basketball has a good future in India – a lot more can be done now. I dream of participating in an IPL-style league in India, and hope that more people around the country can watch the best Indian players in action.”

Until the day arrives that you can see ‘Air India’ take flight regularly on your TV sets – here’s some advice – head out to the court the next time TJ Sahi is in town. As his performance at the Indian All Star Weekend showed, you never know when he will have you jumping off the edge of your seats!

Video: Vince Carter - The Dunk of Death

I want to take a short interlude from our regular scheduled programming here at the Hoopistani blog to talk about my favourite dunk.

AAAAAH... The dunk... Everyone has a favourite dunker, a favourite slam, whether it is in a Slam Dunk competition, during a fast-break in a game, or my personal favourite, an unexpected elevation from a freakish athlete right in the middle of the crowded lane. Usually, these are the dunks that make for the best posters.

With so many choices, how do you pick just one? I'm starting off my narrowing my field down a little bit - the dunk has to be elite and relevant - and by that I mean, the dunker has to be a relevant basketball player at his time and the stage has to be at the most elite/competitive. So, sorry random dunkers (with little other basketball skills) in Algeria (Kadour Ziani) or streetball dunkers (Taurian Fontenette), or our own Indian Blake Griffin, TJ Sahi (who dunked over a Mumbai taxi two weeks ago): I'm officially unconsidering you all for my list.

The next thing I want to count out are dunk competitions altogether. Yes, they are nice to watch, sometimes. Yes, the likes of Jordan, Dominque, Dr. J, Kobe, Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, Nate Robinson, and Blake Griffin have been spectacular in dunk competitions, but they don't count for two points and crushed souls of the opponents like in-game dunks do. This paragraph is officially dedicated to TJ Sahi, the finest dunker in India, who one-upped Blake Griffin in India's own slam dunk competition 10 days ago with a dunk for the ages in Mumbai, when he jumped over a kali-peeli taxi.

Anyways, now seeing that my field has been narrowed down so far, you probably expect an in-game NBA dunk. You probably expect to see a big man like Amar'e Stoudemire, Shawn Kemp, or Blake Griffin eating opponents alive here. Or a backboard breaker by Shaq or Darryl Dawkins. Or John Starks pulling out a classic. Or Scottie Pippen making Patring Ewing cry, or Dr. J, Michael Jordan, or Dominique, or Vince Carter making posters out of ordinary human beings in an NBA game.

Nope.

My favourite dunk of all time does indeed belong to one of the names above. The last one, actually. Vince Carter. But it isn't from an NBA game - it's from the Olympics.

To a new NBA fan, Vince might be that dude who comes off the bench for the Suns, behind Jared Dudley. He's that slow-footed guy who looks like he doesn't care about the game at all, and averages about 14 points a game. Well, my friends, you need to go back in time, about a decade back actually, to realise that at point, Vince Carter was the most unstoppable force in the league. Without going into superlatives, I'll just say that where other talented players choose to slide in a tough lay-up, Vince Carter chose to rise above and slam it in. He is the man behind countless SportCenter Plays of the Day, countless Slam Magazine SLAMADAMONTH's, countless in-game humiliation, and the single greatest slam dunk competition performance of all time.

But for me, Vince's finest moment came in the 2000 Olympics, where he was representing the USA Basketball Team. This moment came in the game against France on September 25, 2000. Carter (6"6), jumped OVER the 7"2 Frédéric Weis' head and slamming the ball in. This dunk was so famous that it made the man who was dunked on famous. Just think about that. Weis, A French player, who never played in the NBA, and was barely an influence in the French national team, is known amongst hoop-heads for one reason, and one reason alone - Vince Carter. Hell, this dunk is SO famous it has its own nickname: The French Media called it "le dunk de la mort", or "the dunk of death".

It's a pity that, being an Olympic game, there are few excellent copies of it available on the internet. I present you the best copy available. Enjoy!



The Dunk of Death, indeed.

Video: TJ Sahi dunks over a Mumbai Taxi

Blake Griffin was not the first person to dunk over a car. But when the 'Blake Show' took off to slam it in over a Kia during the 2011 Slam Dunk competition, it was the first time an "over-the-car" dunk was done on such a big stage. I was there in person, and I was impressed. Half of me was impressed because it was a pretty good dunk, and the other half of me was impressed because of a combination of entertaining things that took place along with the dunk - The Gospel Choir, "I Believe I can Fly", the Staples Center home crowd cheering him on, and did I mention, it was the friggin NBA Slam Dunk Competition?

But strip the dunk bare of all the side-shows and what you're left with is a 6 foot 10 NBA player dunking over a short car.

Forward another couple of months. The scene is drastically different. It's a slam dunk competition all right, but one being held far from the glitz, glamour, and indoor-court comforts of Los Angeles/Staples Center. This dunk contest was being held at the first ever Indian All Star Weekend in Mumbai. The court was the Mastan YMCA, in Nagpada, which in most terms is the exact opposite of LA glamour. Nagpada is known for its kebabs, its crowds, its chawls, and its basketball.

And it was in this setting that, in an outdoor court, with a temporary rollover surface over the concrete court, and where the crowd had free entry to come and watch India's best dunkers exhibit their stuff, that TJ Sahi created history. If you don't know, Sahi is perhaps the most explosive dunker in India: the six foot tall Punjabi point guard, nicknamed 'Air India', has reached cult status for his athletic ability, and has been a main feature in several dunk competitions held in the country over the last few years. You can check out more of his videos on his YouTube channel.

During the Friday night events of the Indian All Star Weekend about two weeks ago, Sahi did his usual in the dunk contest - wowing audiences with his leaping ability. But he saved the best for last, taking a page out of Blake Griffin's book, and then topping him. Sahi dunked over a Mumbai kali-peeli (Black & Yellow) taxi on-court - a car with greater height than the Kia Griffin dunked on. Watch the video of some of Sahi's best dunking highlights below (over bikes, kids, etc, etc), and it ends with this famous over-the-taxi dunk. (Warning: loud Punjabi music to be expected).



Here is a complete list of ways in which this dunk was more awesome than Blake Griffin's:

1. The kali-peeli taxi, an icon of all things Mumbai, was higher than Blake's Kia.

2. Sahi is about 10 inches shorter than Griffin.

3. If you don't know, these outdoor Indian courts aren't exactly best-suited for basketball athleticism. The court is uneven, with bumps, unlike the comfortable NBA floors which are obviously much easier on the dunker's knees.

4. Don't know if Griffin practiced, but Sahi later confirmed to me that he didn't. "I just had a gut feeling I could do it," he said.

5. Sahi had to figure out a way to cover the meter and the sharp edges on the front of the taxi with a mattress, because a single misstep could've brought a whole lotta pain to his nether-regions.

6. The taxi driver and a bunch of kids sat inside the car to watch him leap over it. R. Kelly was replaced from the soundtrack in favour of some Punjabi music. Now THAT'S entertainment!

Once again, I count myself lucky to witness this first-hand, right behind the basket. Thanks TJ, for another historical moment - we'll be waiting to see what else you have in store for us.

Basketball stars align for shooting and dunk show in Mumbai

It was a curious scene – outside the Mastan YMCA court, was the poor Nagpada area, that of thin lanes, population outbursts, and some of the best kebabs known to man. Enter the court and it was a slightly different world, where the finest Men & Women basketball stars from all across the country gathered together for a novel Indian All Star event. They wore fancy new jerseys, participated in glittering photo shoots, and signed autographs.

But this was a scene where these two world’s aligned beautifully. The Nagpada area has long been known for being a major hub of basketball activity in India, and it has overseen some of the greatest players, rivalries, and basketball tournaments that have been held in the country over the past several decades. That frenzied energy and fandom for the game is the perfect platform for the two-day All Star event.

On Friday night, the best shooters in the Men’s and Women’s categories took part in a three-point shooting competition. This was followed by the fan-favourite, Slam Dunk contest, which saw more than one major surprise. And the high-point of this high-energy night came when Punjabi’s point guard Talwinderjit Singh “TJ” Sahi brought out a Mumbai Kali-Peeli (Black & Yellow) taxi to the basketball court, had it parked below the basket, caught a pass from a friend sitting atop the taxi’s carrier, and proceeded to slam it home.

But the night was about so much more than that – all of the stars of the two teams, which included Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (India Men’s captain), local legend Riyazuddin, Jagdeep Singh, Trideep Rai, Yadwinder Singh, Indian Women’s captain Prashanti Singh, Anitha Paul Durai, Anju Lakra, and many others were presented with their new all star jerseys. They proudly took part in several photo-shoots and were fawned over by the local basketball aspirants. Unlike most of India, the kids in Nagpada don’t want to grow up and bat like Sachin or bowl like Zaheer; they have dreams of dribbling like Riyaz and shooting like Manisha.

“Mumbai is the best place to promote, not only basketball, but to promote anything at all,” said Prashanti Singh, “In India, basketball is biggest in this city.”

And the biggest platform in India was presented with India’s biggest performers. A large crowd, comprising of young children, older basketball players, and hundreds of locals from the nearby areas swelled up the court, finding their seats on the ground and on the stands around the court. The night began with the Women’s three-point shooting competition, a large field where 13 of the All-Stars participated.

Four of the shooters tied with seven three-pointers made in one minute each after the first round – Maharashtra’s own Manisha Dange, and three sharpshooters from Chhattisgarh – Seema Singh, Anju Lakra, and Akansha Singh. When the second round got on for the women, it was Akansha who stood last, making a last second three-pointer to give herself the edge and the win. Dange finished second and Lakra came in third.

The men’s competition followed, and the field of participants was only half of the women. It made for a stiffer battle, and in the end Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, who made eight threes under a minute, was crowned Men’s three-point champion. TJ Sahi finished second.

Vishesh came out again to take part in the Slam Dunk competition, and he was joined by Yadwinder Singh, Jagdeep Singh, and TJ Sahi. The rules of the competition were simple – three judges give each player their score out of 10 for each dunk, and there are three rounds. All four of the dunkers wowed the crowd with their athletic ability. And the crowds played happy volunteers, too – it didn’t take more than a slight nudge from Vishesh before several young kids took a seat below the basket for the dunker to jump over them and slam the ball in.

Sahi, who brought on Mumbai’s famous icon – the Kali-Peeli – had many of the kids sit inside the car to watch him jump and dunk over them. The meter stayed up, and so did Sahi, who brought the house down with his effort. It was unfortunately not enough as Vishesh was able to spring out his own surprise - dunking over a motorcycle - and in the end and score just enough. In the end, the competition ended in a tie for both of India’s top dunkers.

With the playful festivities of the first day over, the All Star Weekend moves into its main event for Saturday night, when both the women’s and the men’s All Star Games will be played at the Mastan court. The brand new kit has been ironed, the players have practiced, and the crowd is going to start jostling for their seats: are you ready?

All Star Friday night results

Three point shooting competition (Women): 1. Akansha Singh 2. Manisha Dange 3. Anju Lakra

Three point shooting competition (Men): 1. Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 2. Talwinderjit Singh Sahi

Slam Dunk contest (Men): Talwinderjit Singh Sahi & Vishesh Bhriguvanshi

Punjab Men & TN Women win National Games Basketball Tournament

The basketball tournament at the 34th National Games in Ranchi came to an end on Tuesday, February 22nd, as Punjab Men and Tamil Nadu Women won their respective final games at the Harivansh Tana Bharat Indoor Stadium at city's Mega Sports Complex.


Led by explosive and experienced point guard TJ Sahi (28) points, Punjab sped past a hapless Uttarakhand side in the Final, leading the entire way to aa massive 97-57 win. The twin towers for Punjab, Jagdeep Singh and Yadwinder Singh had big games with 20 and 19 points respectively. Muralikrishna had 19 points for Uttarakhand in a losing effort.

The Women's game was a see-saw affair between Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh, the winners of the recent Federation Cup in Raipur. After trailing by two at the end of the first quarter, Tamil Nadu's legendary Center Geethu Anna Jose caught fire, scoring at will to end the game with 34 points and dominate the next three quarters. TN beat Chhattisgarh 79-45. Renjini Jose added 21 for TN. For Chhattisgarh, captain Anju Lakra had a valiant 25 points.

Earlier in the day, in the third-place match-ups, Tamil Nadu Men won bronze after defeating Services 81-68. Delhi Women got third place after a win over Maharashtra 79-59.

Indian Men's Basketball: Dream Team

India has sent several different Men's teams to international competitions over the past year. These have included the South Asian Games at Dhaka in January, the Asian Games at Guanzhou in November, and the Super Kung Sheung Cup at Hong Kong in December. Additionally, a talented bunch of Indian youngsters represented the country at the Junior FIBA Asia Championships at Yemen in September. Of course, many fans got a chance to watch their favourite players in action for their states/clubs at the National Championship that was held at New Delhi in December/January.

Now, with all these different squads, which have included several new omissions, players left out due to injury/behaviour reasons, or other changes, it is hard to decide what would be India's strongest Men's side.

Fear not: what I have decided to compile here is my personal favourite pick of Indian players. If I was India's coach/selector, this is the squad of 12 I would pick to represent the country in International competitions. I have tried to pick a good blend of players with different sizes and abilities that I feel will complement each other. Also, this team should be a good blend of youth and experience - seniors to help lead the squad, players in their prime, and youngsters to provide the right kind of energy and hunger.

My Indian Dream Team

Starting Five
PG: TJ Sahi
SG: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Captain)
SF: Trideep Rai
PF: Jagdeep Singh
C: Yadivinder Singh
Bench
Hareesh Koroth
Dinesh CV
Dishant Shah
Arjun Singh
Amjyot Singh
Sambaji Kadam
Jai Ram Jat

As you may notice, I've picked players like Sahi and Kadam, who are now in exile from the national system, but I feel who are strong enough to still make a difference at the biggest stage.

Here are some players who I would like to give honourable mention to: S. Robinson, Kiran Pal Singh, Prakash Mishra, Eudrick Pereira, Bobby Singh, Sunil Rathee, Ajay Pratap Singh.

Over to you now: if you could pick your Indian Men's Dream Team, what would it be?

The Indian Basketball Fan

A cliché about India is that the country this vast size and population has "all types of everything." It is a country of a thousand religions, tribes, languages, languages, but most importantly, tens of thousands (or millions) distinctly different opinions.

And the same holds true for basketball. India has a rapidly growing basketball community - Basketball is the second fastest growing sport in India (after football) with four million Indians playing the game, and of course countless others who are involved in the game as administrators or as fans. With such a large and rapidly growing population, it is hard to classify the types of fans, but here I would like to give it a real go! (Thank you JD Walsh, by the way, for that awesome pic!)

There seems to be one thing in common about basketball fans in India (or NRI hoop fans) that I have either come across or those that have reached out to me: outside the circle of their own friends/school/teams, every fan thinks that they are a minority, and there is a beautiful thrill in coming across other desis that also adore the game.

This is especially true for NBA nerds in India - for the longest time, my older brother and I staunchly believed that we would never find more of our kind, those that shared our crazed enthusiasm for the league, those that checked box scores every day and threw statistics at each other, those that spent hours discussing and debating our ultimate starting fives (Greatest ever, Most defensive, Most notorious, Best without-a-championship, Best second-fiddles, etc, etc, etc, I could go on all day...)

But as I have delved deeper and deeper into my obsession, I have discovered that I'm far from alone. Basketball (and NBA) fans are a small but loud community in India, but one that is set to continue growing rapidly and continue making their voices heard.

So without further ado, here is my breakdown of The Indian Basketball Fan. Where do you stand?

1). Stalwarts of basketball in India: These are the ones who have represented our country in hoops, have played in tournaments and camps around the country, who have spent hours every day since their teenage years perfecting the game, listening to the barks of a ruthless (but affectionate) coach, and asking for the courts blessings every time they step on it. A large majority of these fans are so obsessed with the game that they are experts at the local knowledge of hoops but don't know much NBA or other world basketball information. To them, the real hoop legends are TJ Sahi, Sambhaji Kadam, Divya, Singh, Geethu Anna Jose, and Trideep Rai.

2. Basketball is religion, and there's the NBA, too: These fans are much like the ones above, as in, they are mostly players of the game. But they also follow the international game and the NBA - they have been waking up at 5:30-6:30 in the mornings two or three times a week for a decade (or more), have been watching the NBA players, trying to emulate them, but still holding the grassroots stars in greater regard. When asked, many of these fans would probably reply that their favourite NBA players are Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, or Shaq, Iverson, and Michael Jordan for the older school.

3. The NBA superstar fans: This category encompasses the legion of fans who play regular hoops at their school or their nearest playground and try to emulate their NBA player obsessions on court. These are the ones who may not have made the game their life and profession, but love it nonetheless, and are also huge fans of the NBA. Again, limited by what's shown on TV, these players love Garnett and the Celtics, Kobe and the Lakers, Dwight Howard and the Magic, or LeBron James and the Cavaliers... Okay... maybe not the Cavaliers any more! You're a fan number three if you supported the Cavs until last season but ever since his trade, you're a Miami Heat fan. You're a fan number three if you follow the player, not the team.

4. The NBA "all-player" fans: Above are the fans who only like the marquee players that are hyped up all the time: (LeBron, Kobe, Dwight, Wade, Garnett, etc), but this category is for the ones who are crazed about the underrated stars of the league. If you're more interested in David Lee's double-doubles, Stephen Curry's shooting percentage, or Shane Battier's defensive intensity, you belong in this category.

5. The NBA teams' fans: This category is usually filled with older NBA fans, or at least the more stubborn ones! These are the ones that will support a team rain or shine. Of course, it is difficult being loyal to an NBA city when we live thousands of miles away, but these fans try. A part of me belongs to this stubborn list too, as I've been a New York Knick fan for over a decade and seen only one year of relevance for my favourite squad! Despite the popularity of the Cleveland Cavaliers, it's hilariously obvious that the team didn't have any real fans - you just need a revisit to your nearest Adidas shop in India to see that all Cavalier merchandise has suddenly disappeared!

6. Fans of the game, and nothing much else!: These are the ones usually go on to become the coaches or the referees! These are the fans that just love basketball - who is playing, who they are representing, where they are playing doesn't matter. They love the game, the Xs and and Os, they love designing plays and reading them, they love to study the arc on the perfect jump-shot and the shoulder-to-knee posture of the perfect defensive stance!

As I write this, I have started to have a sneaking suspicion that many fans could relate to at least two or three of these categories. But wherever you find yourself as a fan, there will be one thing that will unite you all: passion. Despite the relative lack of exposure, popularity, and media hype to basketball, Indian fans have somehow remained loyal to the game.

So if you're not a hoops fan yet, join one or six of the crazed categories above, because I guarantee you will come out rewarded. I did!

Mastan League: India's first professional basketball league

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One small tip-off at Mumbai; a great jump for Indian basketball? India's first fully-professional basketball league will start in Mumbai tommorow with the Mastan League, launched by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). 80 of the men and 40 of the top women players in India have been divided into 12 teams (eight for men, four for women) that will play against each other in the league. The players are set to receive a fixed match fee. The games will be held from 8-15th May, and the total prize money is of 14 lakhs.

When I had spoken to BFI secretary-general Harish Sharma a month ago, he had boldly predicted that we could have an all-India pro-league in 2-3 years. The small Mastan league could be a significant step in that direction, helping to provide the players a league-like environment for the week. Some of the country's top male and female players such as Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Sambhaji Kadam, S. Robinson, Geethu Anna Jose, Mihir Pandey, Talwinderjit Singh “TJ” Sahi, Trideep Rai, Riyazuddin, Akanksha Singh, Prashanti Singh, Harjeet Kaur, and others will be taking part.

Harish Sharma, spoke to reporters yesterday (from zeenews.com):

"This is not the NBA, but in our own way we are starting a league for the betterment of basketball. We want the best players from the country playing for balanced teams, but they are not associated with any commercial groups," Sharma said.
"We have invited most international players for the tournament, including the junior national women campers at Indore who would be playing as one team. The junior men would be distributed among various teams. The matches would be watched by the national coaches and government observer," the BFI official said.

There will also be a best player award.

The teams are -

Men: Rangers, Challengers, Kings, Soldiers, Warriors, Lions, Riders, Prince
Women: Power Girls, Super Girls, Wonder Girls, Golden Girls

The players had to report to the venue on the 5th of May, and teams were formed after two days of tryouts. Sharma had said that the plan was to mix the teams up by talent to match a national league system. Around 40 percent of all the players are from Maharashtra to promote basketball in the host state.

DNA India reports that: "The team to watch out for in the women’s draw will be the Golden Girls team that will comprise members of India’s junior national squad. The event is helping them to gain exposure before they head for a championship in Thailand next month."

Ibrahim Lakdawala, an enterprising former national-level player has been behind the planning of this first of its kind professional basketball league in a hope to change the face of the game in the city.

These are definitely exciting times for basketball here. Almost all of the Indian star players I've spoken to have expressed the desire of seeing an IPL/NBA style basketball league in India. What we need next is to have more cities and states participate in such league, and not have a state-based quota for players such as the 40 percent used here.

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Video: TJ Sahi vs. Yi Jianlian

You may have already heard of Talwainderjit Singh "TJ" Sahi. The 6'2" Punjab point guard is one of the finest players in the country and even took his game to a division II team in California.

Here is a famous video of TJ Sahi leading the Indian team in an international game last year against Asian powerhouses China. China played without injured superstar Yao Ming. Sahi faced off against Yi Jianlian, who plays for the New Jersey Nets in the NBA. Predictably, China whooped our asses, but TJ showed flashes of brilliance, usually being one step ahead of everyone else on the court.



Find out more about Sahi on his official website, TJSahi.net

IOB and SEC Railway lift Ramu Memorial trophies

Another edition of the Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament (RMBT) concluded on Sunday night, with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and South East Central (SEC) Railway lifting the Men's and Women's trophies respectively.


Held at the Indian Gymkhana in Mumbai, the RMBT is an annual, prestigious All-India basketball tournament, now in it's 26th edition. The tournament has historically featured the best team's in India competing for the coveted trophy.

From the tournament's press release:

Indian Overseas Bank, improving in every match since their first league match loss to Indian Army, gained sweet revenge right at the end, when they outplayed the Indian Army team 71-54 in the men’s final to lift the glittering 26th UPL Ramu Memorial Trophy, sponsored by United Phorphorous Ltd. and earn a purse of Rs 1 lakh at the Indian Gymkhana, here, on Sunday.
Earlier, in the women’s final, South East Central Railway ended the four-year domination of Southern Railway, handing them a 67-57 defeat to lay their hands on the Kapila Khandvala Shield, along with a purse of Rs 50,000.

Indian Army were done in by the ‘Triple Towers’ of Indian Army, S Robinson, Vineeth Mathew and Mihir Pander... Robinson was easily the standout among both teams... He ended up with the day’s high of 24 points, while Mathew got 18 and Pandey 13. In fact, such was the dominance of IOB that they had scored 12 points before Army opened their account. With Sambhaji Kadam a pale shadow of himself and Nixon failing to find his scoring touch, Army were always playing catch up.
The women’s final saw SECR score over Southern thanks to their entire team pulling their weight. On the other hand, Southern’s reliance on Geethu Anna Jose to deliver the goods proved their undoing with the other players failing to rise to the occasion.

S. Robinson was named player of the tournament. By the way, the 'S' stands for 'Sozhasingarayer' - no wonder the media chooses to stick to the initial! This has been sweet redemption for the basketball sensation, who spent three years in basketball exile after being banned from representing his state Tamil Nadu and the national team.

Pushpa of SEC-Railway, for her consistent play throughout the competition, won the Women's player of the tournament.


Earlier, the Men's semi-finals as well as the slam dunk and three point competitions took place on Saturday evening at the Gymkhana. In the semis, IOB, led by Robinson's 29 points, defeated the rather lukewarm challenge of ONGC 74-57. Indian Army defeated last year's winners Western Railway 71-57.

Nixon from the Indian Army won the 12-man field of the three point shootout. TJ Sahi of Punjab faced a tough competition from last year's finalist Vishesh Bhriguvanshi in the slam dunk competition - TJ eventually won, dunking over two motor bikes and a carrom board in the final round (!), after which he did his signature reverse slam.

A carrom board... ha!

Anyways, this was all in all an exciting tournament, garnering a lot of attention for Indian basketball teams and stars. Granted, for the sport to really capture the imaginations of the audiences, we need to have a consistent league system instead of irregular prized/sponsored competitions. The signs are good though - with the NBA's involvement with BFI as well as their interest in the promoting the game to an Indian audience, I have no doubt that basketball, the country's second fastest growing sport, has nowhere to go but up...

Happy Holi, everybody.

Defending champs dominate Ramu Memorial group stage

The group stages of this year's Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament (RMBT) concluded last night, with defending champs Western Railways dominating the Men's competition. SEC-Railway go into the final undefeated in the Women's field.

Held at the Indian Gymkhana in Mumbai, the RMBT is an annual, prestigious All-India basketball tournament, now in it's 26th edition. The tournament has historically featured the best team's in India competing for the coveted trophy.

In the men's competition, the teams were divided into two groups:

Group A: Western Railway, ONGC, Chennai Customs, Vijaya Bank
Group B: Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Army, Punjab, RCF-Kapurtala

Western Railway, led by V-Town prodigy and captain of the Young Cagers Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, have been on fire so far, winning all three of their group games. Vishesh has been the main perpetrator, highlighted by his 42 point scoring outburst in the close 85-80 victory over Vijaya Bank in their second game. They also beat Chennai Customs and ONGC to finish as group leaders.


ONGC also qualified from Group A, beating Vijaya Bank and Chennai Customs in their two blowout victories. Mohit Bhandari and Trideep Rai have been consistent performers in their matches.

Indian Army and the giant-killers Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) qualified from Group B for the semi-finals. Three teams in the group - IOB, Indian Army, and Punjab - finished with two victories each, leaving the qualifiers to be decided by point difference.

The big surprise were IOB, led by the recent resurgence of veteran player S. Robinson. After going 1-1 in their first two games, IOB needed a big win against a favoured Punjab side to qualify. Punjab have their own big time performers in Jagdeep Singh and TJ Sahi, but IOB rallied to win their game Thursday night 95-64, led by Robinson's 31. They finished top of the group.

Indian Army lost their first game to Punjab, but recovered well with balanced teamplay and won their next two games against IOB and RCF-Kapurtala, finishing second place in the group.

The Semi-Finals for men will both take place on Saturday the 27th.
5:00 PM: Western Railway vs. Indian Army
7:00 PM: IOB vs. ONGC

Saturday evening will also feature two of the most exciting features of the tournament, the Slam Dunk Competition and the Three Point Shootout. According to Vinod Muthukumar, one of the organizers of the event, the confirmed names for the Slam Dunk Competition so far are TJ Sahi, Jagdeep Singh, Arjun Singh, and Abhilek Paul.

There is only one group for the Women with these four teams: Southern Railway, SEC Railway, Karnataka, and Aamchi Mumbai.

Southern Railway, featuring India's basketball starlet Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha P, started off badly with close loss to SEC Railway. They went on to win their next two games against Karnataka and local favouties Aamchi Mumbai to enter the finals.

They will be joined by SEC Railway, who have won all their games, led mostly by the combined efforts of M. Pushpa and Anju Kakra.

Both the Men's and Women's Finals will be played on Sunday, February 28th. SEC Railway will play Southern Railway in the Women's Finals at 5:30 AM. The winners of the two Men's semi-finals will play the final at 7:30 the same evening.

The tournament is being played on international standard Teraflex courts and held under floodlights in a specially erected stadium. In an interesting new endeavour for Indian tournaments, a statistics programme acquired from FIBA website is being used to track individual and team statistics such points scored, shooting percentage, 3 point percentage, rebounds, assists, steals, etc. The information is regularly uploaded to the tournament's official website: www.ramumemorial.com.

As in the past, entry is free for spectators and this is being done especially to promote basketball among students and youth.

"The crowd is building day by day," said Muthukumar, "Now that the competition is getting stiffer, the audience is getting more eager. The semi final line up looks interesting."