Kenny Natt, Pete Gaudet, & Zak Penwell hold clinic for coaches at Junior Nationals

When the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) brought world-class American coaches Kenny Natt, Pete Gaudet, and Zak Penwell to work with the Indian National teams, they also brought coaches who weren’t going to be satisfied by working with India’s national team stars: to truly help the growth of basketball in India and develop the game at the grassroots level, the American coaches took part in a special clinic held at the Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi during the Junior National Basketball Championship on Saturday where they shared their knowledge with hundreds of gathered domestic coaches, team managers, technical officials, and the players. Clinics like these can help spread the expert basketball knowledge amongst more coaches and players in the country.

Kenny Natt, who has had nearly two decades of experience as a coach in the NBA, and is now the head coach of the Indian Sr. Men’s team, showcased several drills for the interested coaches from all over India. Natt has been an assistant coach in great teams featuring the likes of Karl Malone, John Stockton, and LeBron James – the drills that he demonstrated on Saturday are amongst the many that he has been using with players on the Indian National squad, and Natt added that these were the same drills being used by the best players in the world in the NBA.

Natt taught the coaches the ‘Star’ Lay-up and Jump-shot drill, in which the players had to run and touch different points around the court in a star-shape as they also attempted to hit lay-ups or jump-shots in between. For big men, he showed the Tap Drill and the Wrap Drill, useful in helping big men tap-in offensive boards instead of bringing them down. He also showed some defensive drills, such as the V-drill, which helps in zigzag running for 1-on-1 defense.

Pete Gaudet, who is the head coach of the Indian Sr. Women’s team, wanted to focus his session on ways to motivate young basketball players to work harder. “I know that these players will improve even after the 10 minutes of the practice drill, and I know that because I know basketball players,” Gaudet said. He is right indeed: Gaudet has been involved deeply in basketball for over 40 years, spending the majority of this time with some of the finest college basketball teams in the USA, including Duke, Vanderbilt, and Ohio State University.

With the help of Indian National players Kokila, Akanksha Singh, and Raspreet Sidhu, and with volunteers, Gaudet demonstrated drills primary for guards, and designed to help the players gauge their own skill-level. Gaudet held a drill called ‘Makes in a Minute’, where he challenged the players to take and make as many 15-foot jump-shots as possible under one minute. By setting a standard for running and working to improve their shots taken and accuracy of each shot, he was able to motivate the players to get better each time they did this drill. The second drill he worked on was a two-dribble lay-up drill, challenging the volunteers to take off from as far as they possibly could from the basket, take two dribbles and make a lay-up. As the player’s moved further from their starting point, Gaudet was able to show the importance of helping them gain a measuring stick and look to improve on it.

Zak Penwell, who is Indian basketball’s first ever Strength & Conditioning Coach, spent time speaking on the importance of making basketball players agile, run faster, and be able to quickly change direction as they play. For this, Penwell focused on the ‘Squad Exercise’, which he calls the ‘king’ of the exercises. To increase strength, help athletes increase their jumpability, speed, and to help reduce injuries, Penwell demonstrated some exercise techniques using squats to the coaches.

At the end of each session, the American coaches opened up the floor for a Q&A from the several interested Indian basketball guides.

While it’s true that the talented and experience American coaches can’t reach every single basketball player in India, but through a good feeder system, their teachings can spread: the Indian coaches will be hoping to impart the drills, techniques, and motivational tactics learnt here to more coaches and more players across the country, and ultimately work in breeding better basketball players in India.

Zak Penwell: Indian Basketball’s New Workout Plan

Nothing fills a need better than what is exactly needed to fill that need. A perfect fit to an incomplete jigsaw puzzle.

Let me explain: What is the most common criticism against the performance of the basketball players in India? If you asked me, the answer woyld be fitness and athletic ability. For too long, our stars have been one step behind our athletically-charged opponents, and for too long, have Indians worldwide heard that they weren’t ‘athletic enough’ for basketball. Not explosive enough. Too Weak. Too Slow. Too Tired.

During the Asian Games basketball tournament last November, a well-coordinated Indian Men’s team showed flashes of brilliance under Coach Bill Harris, but were never fit enough to keep up their concentration for the entire duration of their games. Most recently, India’s finest women’s player Geethu Anna Jose, the only Indian to be offered trials with the WNBA, was overwhelmed by the strength of the American players she went against at the trials.

Player strength and conditioning was the great missing piece of Indian basketball’s jigsaw puzzle: it isn’t true that Indian basketball players aren’t athletic enough; we just haven’t been given the right guidance to develop our bodies to its complete potential.

Enter the missing piece: A month ago, American Zak Penwell was hired by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) as its first-ever Strength & Conditioning (S&C) Coach. Penwell comes to India after combining a world of athletic-conditioning education and experience. He was brought alongside other American coaches Kenny Natt and Pete Gaudet, who will be working with the Indian Men’s and Women’s teams respectively as head coaches. Penwell, meanwhile, will focus on S&C for both teams, as well as the players on the junior national programmes.

“A sport like basketball has certain demands that every high-level coach will make,” said Penwell on the importance of his role with the Indian National sides, “They need to be good athletes, jump higher, hold their position, run faster, handle fatigue, concentrate and be sharper… My job is to give the players all the tools they need to perform at their best.”

Penwell believes that his role is more than that of just a fitness trainer – he prides on being a coach, instead, reaching out to players to increase not only their physical abilities but also to toughen them up mentally for their challenges. “At the highest level, the players need to focus on their skill and their tasks in in-game situations. If a ball-handler believes that he or she can dribble past an opponent, their legs shouldn’t betray him. A player should focus on their skills and tactics and not be held back by physical limitations.”

As the BFI’s Strength & Conditioning Coach, Zak Penwell will be responsible for developing and implementing specialized nutritional, strength training, and conditioning programs for all Indian national men’s and women’s teams. He will also advise Indian coaches throughout the BFI system to enhance and nurture the development of top basketball talent throughout the country.

Penwell comes most recently from Scotland’s Sportscotland Institute of Sport, where he worked with athletes from a range of national teams including swimming, basketball, sprint canoe, judo, rugby, golf, curling, triathlon, and field hockey. Since 2006 he has spent over 40,000 athlete contact hours in the weight room, with over 550 elite collegiate and international-level athletes. Penwell is a graduate of the U.S. men’s and women’s college basketball power the University of Connecticut, where he earned two degrees from the top Kinesiology program in America.

Bottom line: the BFI couldn’t have chosen a better fit for its needs in India. Penwell feels that the ‘perfect fit’ was mutual. “There is amazing potential for the game here, but little in the field of Strength and Conditioning,” Penwell said, “That is why it’s an exciting opportunity to start with a fresh slate, do the things the right way, and watch the right system flourish. My strengths fit perfectly with Indian Basketball’s needs.”

“I’m here to impart a championship mindset.”

Although Penwell has experience in assisting almost 20 different sports, he is in India for basketball and basketball alone. “Everything I train the players for in the gym or on the court will have a direct, practical application during game-time,” he said, “They should know how each exercise will translate directly to basketball.”

In his first few weeks working at the camp in Delhi for the Indian Senior and Youth National Basketball teams, Penwell has learnt the needs of the players and his approach to working individually with several of the men and women here. “The first goal for us here is that the players need to get stronger,” Penwell says, “Along with strength training, we will work on improving their agility and getting the basics right.”

Being strong and fit enough to avoid injury also plays a crucial role in success in basketball – no team likes to play the biggest competitions with its best players are on the bench nursing an injury. Injury Prevention will become a major part of Penwell’s focus.

Of all of the criticisms that might befall Indian players, here’s one that we can do little about: height. But Penwell has a plan of countering height by increasing conditioning in other areas, such as jumping ability (or ‘jumpability’, as he calls it), positioning, and being fitter to simply ‘outwork’ opponents on the court. “Our players have to have the stamina to keep performing even when their tired. It’s about Total Recovery – recovering to their full ability in the shortest amount of time.”

“I have no doubt of the player’s potential,” he adds, “All I ask for is a 100 percent effort and attention to detail. The athletes we have can be made into winners.”

During his three-year stint, Penwell hopes not only to improve the strength and conditioning of the basketball players in India, but to also revolutionise the field for all sports in the country. “Once people see the changes we produce in basketball, it can be a good model for other sports in the country,” said Penwell, “It should be a success story that others can follow.”

Already, the players at the National Camp are starting to show understanding and appreciation for Penwell’s work. Both the new coaches of the Indian national team – former NBA head coach Kenny Natt and former Duke/Vanderbilt/OSU coach Pete Gaudet – are seeing a more disciplined approach to player fitness and durability than in the past.

“By the time I’m done here, I hope to see basketball in India achieve things it has never achieved before,” Penwell says.

A perfect fit, indeed – because basketball lovers in India will walk step-by-step with Penwell so that all our dreams can be achieved.

Pete Gaudet – Q&A: The Hoops Scientist

If basketball was a science, then Pete Gaudet would be found in the lab all day: mixing the right chemicals to make the perfect compound, perfecting the timing, jotting down his results and then mixing again to sharpen up his final product, and then meticulously detailing each piece of information and piecing everything together to make his work better and better.

The way Gaudet looks at it, basketball is a science. The American coach, who has been appointed as head of the Indian Sr. National Women’s team, brings with him over 40 years of experience coaching hoops at American High School, College, International, and Professional level. But when asked about why he accepted such a drastic change of scenery to come and coach in India, he answered: “At the end of the day, the basketball is still round, and my workstation is still the gym… Basketball is still basketball.”

And there are few people more versed in the chemicals that comprise the compound game of basketball than Gaudet: Over the course of his career, Gaudet has coached both men and women at the highest levels of American college basketball, including positions at West Point, Duke University, Vanderbilt, and the Ohio State University (OSU). He has extensive technical and international basketball experience to add to his resume.

While at Duke, Gaudet won two NCAA men’s championships as Assistant coach to the legendary Mike Krzyzweski (Coach K). He made seven Final Fours, coached eight All-Americans, three national players of the year, and 12 NBA draft picks, including Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, and Danny Ferry. When Coach K took a leave of absence in early 1995, Gaudet was promoted to interim head coach.

Gaudet and Coach K also worked together with the Army basketball team, and before joining Duke, Gaudet coached Al Arabi, a club team in Kuwait. He has travelled to over 25 countries in conjunction with baseball, conducting clinics in Italy, Nigeria, Italy, Korea, Senegal and Canada.

After Duke (1983 - 1995), Gaudet worked at Vanderbilt and OSU, holding both men’s and women’s assisting coaching positions at Vanderbilt and was a women’s coach with the latter. While in OSU, Gaudet wrote a book called ‘Practical Post Play’, which is an essential guide for post players and coaches.

At OSU, he worked with Tamika Raymond, who was the former coach of the Indian Women’s team, and encouraged Gaudet to take the job after her. Last month, Gaudet was signed alongside two other world-class coaches for Indian Basketball – Kenny Natt (Indian Senior Men’s team) and Zak Penwell (Strength & Conditioning Coach).

Gaudet is currently working at the National Coaching camp at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi as the team prepares for the 24th FIBA Asia Championship for Women, to be held in Omura and Nagasaki, Japan, from August 21-20, 2011.

A week into his time in India, I got the opportunity to speak with Gaudet about the challenge that lay ahead of him.

Hoopistani: Why did you choose to take this coaching opportunity in India?

Gaudet: I was very intrigued about this job when I first heard about it. I was contacted by [former India Women’s coach] Tamika Raymond about it, whom I used to work with at OSU – she told me that it would be a great experience for me. She told me that the girls love the game, but that they need teaching.

In the past, I had usually avoided the Head Coach position because it doesn’t come with the basketball teaching/developing opportunities. But here, I knew that I would be able to teach the game. In the past, I have worked with players of all levels, and with men and women.

I understood that IMG/Reliance was going to be presenting me with a good challenge here in India. Plus, coming to another country wasn’t a problem for me – I have coached around the world!

Finally, in the past I had mostly worked with college players, with whom you have to balance playing and studying times, as they are still students. With this opportunity, I can work with this team on my own time.

Hoopistani: As you said – you have coached around the world. Tell me a bit about your experiences.

Gaudet: In College, during the regular season, I had to work with the team. But in the off-season I had the option of taking part in specific camps around the world. I’ve enjoyed working with post players a lot, and have been a regular attendee of Pete Newell’s Big Man Camp in Hawaii. Internationally, I have done clinics in Nigeria, Korea, Italy, Qatar, Israel, and Canada, and also travelled to Yugoslavia, Spain, Greece, and Serbia.

In Kuwait, I coached a professional club team for eight months. This is my first time in India.

Hoopistani: What have been some of the highlights of your career so far?

Gaudet: I’ve spent 40 years in basketball as a coach, and the best thing that I’ve experienced have been the relationships that I have established with players and other coaches in this time. It has been great to have mentored so many basketball players.

Aside from that, I treasure the two National Championships that I won with Duke (1991 and 1992).

With Duke, Vanderbilt, and OSU, I have been proud to have been part of teams who have competed at the highest level of NCAA College Basketball, playing against some of the best teams.

Hoopistani: How do you expect your challenge in India to be different from that you faced in the US or in the other parts of the world?

Gaudet: My India challenge is about being here and now, and not about anything I’ve done in the past. Players are players – Just like the players I’ve worked with before, these players in India have a championship in which they are trying to compete. My job will be to prepare a team of advanced players and make sure they keep improving.

More than good basketball plays, I want to have good basketball players. Yes, you can’t have control over the players you have, but my challenge will be to ensure that every day when they leave practice, they realise that they have become better players.

You can have no ego about a change of scenery like this. Whether you are working with the best players in the world or not, basketball is still basketball. At the end of the day, the basketball is still round, and my workstation is still the gym. It’s still 5-on-5. I have worked with professionals and with 10-year-olds, and I have enjoyed both, because teaching basketball is very satisfying – it has got nothing to do with having superstars. Young players have an advantage in that they are more receptive to improve themselves.

Hoopistani: What have you learnt about the Indian team in your short time with them?

Gaudet: The women’s team have been very receptive to the knowledge I have shared with them. They understand that they have to perform at a high level. The most important thing is that they love to play the game of basketball.

Hoopistani: How will you hope to raise the level of the team’s performance?

Gaudet: My background is in defense, and that is what I believe in. I want them to enjoy playing defense, and learn the importance of stopping the opposition players. It is important to find players with the skills and passion for defense.

Basketball is a creative game, and I also believe in giving the players’ the freedom to be creative. But they have to be good enough to handle this freedom.

We may not have the biggest or the strongest team, but we have enough athletic ability to be good defensively and find a way to counter size with quickness.

It’s important to find out what each of the specific players is good that, and then make them enjoy it. Hopefully, I can get all of the players to contribute to the team in some way.

Hoopistani: In Geethu Anna Jose, you have a dominating post player who was also the only Indian to be offered WNBA trials. How do you plan to maximise her talents in your team?

Gaudet: Using Geethu in the post will be one of our weapons. She has the right skill-set to be successful. But in a full game of basketball, post players do not actually get too much time on the ball. For Geethu to be effective and make the most of her time, the other players in the team have to get her the ball. Post players like Geethu can’t reach their full potential without the help of the others.

She will also then be able to free up the other players, to provide them with driving lanes to score and with open three-point shots.

Hoopistani: Looking ahead – do you think the game of basketball has a future in India?

Gaudet: If we can make the most of the commitments made by IMG/Reliance, with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), we can really hope to see the game improve here. I want to see this sport gain more popularity, see more basketball gyms, and more kids playing the game.

The popularity of the sport can grow through the Indian team’s performance – if this team if able to perform well, maybe they can set up the building blocks of a future for the game in India.

Hoopistani: What are your goals for your term here in India?

Gaudet: I want to raise the standard of the game here and show young people that, if they work hard, they can end up playing at a high level. I want them to approach basketball not just for the game but to achieve great things.

Kenny Natt: Basketball in India is ready for the first steps in a long journey

“Why India?”

That was the most common question thrown at 52-year-old basketball coach Kenny Natt when he faced some of the top sports journalists and writers in the country. Journalists and writers, who, after years of absorbing themselves in the functioning of the nation’s flawed system, rightly wondered why one world’s most elite basketball coaches would choose to bring his coaching talents to India.

A month ago, Natt was announced as the new Head Coach of the Indian Sr. Men’s National Basketball squad, the Young Cagers, as they’re nicknamed. He was chosen along with experienced collegiate coach Pete Gaudet (Women’s National team) and Zak Penwell (Strength and Conditioning) as the men who have been passed on the baton to instruct and lead Indian basketball into the future.

Natt has followed Bill Harris as the second American coach to be handed Indian basketball’s top coaching gig, but unlike Harris, who was only with the team for a few months as they ventured into the 2010 Asian Games, Natt has signed on to a two-year agreement with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). He will be the first head coach for the Young Cagers who comes with a glittering resume that includes an NBA head coach job and assistant coaching gigs to teams that included basketball greats such as Karl Malone, John Stockton, and LeBron James.

Which brings us back to the very valid question, Mr. Natt: “Why India?”

I remember speaking to Dan Barto last year, a coach at the IMG Basketball Academy in the USA, about the importance of good coaches in India. Barto responded by saying that in any place where the game of basketball is at its infancy, it is those who spread the knowledge of the game who are remembered, more than those who play it. This concept, he says, was even followed in America, the country playing at the highest level of hoops in the world right now – before the game became a worldwide phenomenon, there were no LeBrons and Kobes - there were the James Naismiths, the John Woodens, and the Red Auerbachs.

Indian basketball is still an infant relative to the rest of the world, and the country is waiting to be moulded into its complete basketball potential. He might have worked with some of the best talents in the world, but Natt says that he is looking forward to going back to doing something that he loves most: teaching the game of basketball from its basic fundamentals.

“This is a great opportunity for me to do something I love – help develop young basketball talent,” says Natt, “I have a passion for teaching young, up-and-coming players.”

Before coming to India, Natt had worked with the who’s who at the highest levels of the game. But before his journey as a coach began, he was an accomplished player, too. Natt played for the University of Louisiana-Monroe. He averaged 20.1 points and 3.5 rebounds his senior season while earning All-Trans America Conference honors and was named MVP of the Louisiana All-Star Game. As one of the top scorers in school history, Natt was inducted into the Northeast Louisiana State University Hall of Fame in 2003.

Natt was drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 30th selection in the 1980 NBA Draft. He spent three years in the NBA playing for the Pacers, Utah Jazz and Kansas City Kings. During his career, he played for six CBA teams before finishing his playing career with Fresno and Youngstown of the World Basketball League (WBL).

At the start of his coaching/scouting career, Natt spent two seasons as a scout for the Jazz and as an assistant coach at Youngstown State. He also held positions as an assistant coach/player personnel director for the CBA’s Columbus Horizon, a head coach for the Cape Breton Breakers (Nova Scotia) in the Canadian-based National Basketball League and as player personnel director and scout for the WBL.

And in 1994, he was back in the NBA. Natt has 13 years of NBA coaching experience He spent nine seasons (1994-95 – 2003-04) on legendary coach Jerry Sloan’s staff with the Utah Jazz. He was responsible for the on-court skills development of frontcourt players as well as preparing video breakdowns for game preparations of upcoming opponents. He was a member of the coaching staff that led the Jazz, led by Karl Malone and John Stockton, to the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons in Utah. Natt was on the bench as the Jazz made runs to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, losing only to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls side both times.

Natt spent the three seasons (2004-2007) as an assistant coach to Mike Brown at the Cleveland Cavaliers, helping the Cavaliers reach the 2007 NBA Finals. Led by a young LeBron James, this defensive-minded team was swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals.

Natt was named to the coaching staff of newly-appointed Sacramento Kings head coach and former Kansas City Kings teammate Reggie Theus in 2007. After Theus was fired in 2008, Natt was named interim head coach of the young, inexperienced, and ultimately unsuccessful Sacramento Kings for the 2008-09 season.

It’s was no doubt then that, with such an impressive CV, Natt instantly earned the attention and respect of the Indian players that he met at the National Coaching camp in New Delhi. “The players look at me and respect me,” he says, “This helps my job because, to have their respect is to have their attention, and if I have their attention then it makes it easier for me to teach them.”

In less than a week, Natt discovered the obvious differences in the ‘Indian basketball’ way, as compared to his past experiences. “The players in India are very willing to learn,” he says, “Yes, they might not be as many tall players here as there are in the USA, but these players have a heart and determination that is very encouraging. I did my homework before coming here, watching the game tapes of the Indian side from past championships, and it was obvious to see that even in losing efforts the players showed courage and a hunger to keep competing.”

Natt’s first challenge with the team would be to lead them into the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship in Wuhan (China) in September this year. By then, Natt hopes to get through to his players as well as he can to prepare them. “We will be successful if we play an up-tempo and organised style of basketball,” Natt says, “We also have good, experienced big men in Jagdeep Singh and Yadwinder Singh – we will get the ball inside to play off them.”

Natt has noticed that the Indian side have shown signs of the defensive principals taught by their former coach, Bill Harris. He is hoping that with more time in his hands, he will be able to bring more organisation and discipline into the team. “It’s important that the players are happy and confident,” he says, “If they’re confident, they’ll compete harder against some of the Asian powerhouses.”

“It will be a long time before we’re in the same league China or Japan – but we will focus on making progress from today. It took China a long time of focus on developing the game for them to get where they are now. The FIBA Asia Championship is the first step in a long journey for us – the important thing is to see progress and put up improved performances.”

Along with the two Punjabi ‘Singh’ Twin Towers in Yadwinder and Jagdeep, Natt says that in the early days with the team, the likes of Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Trideep Rai have left an impression on him because of their leadership and experience.

In the past though, the same Indian side has suffered due to several fundamental errors – Natt recognises these and has a plan for helping the team overcome them. “The players have to learn to master the basic fundamentals, something I will help them with,” he says, “We have to repeat the basic drills often to get rid of concentration lapses that occur in big games.”

In addition, Natt also expressed joy that, for the first time, the Indian National teams will have a Strength and Conditioning specialist coach in Zak Penwell, who will help the players improve their fitness and endurance to match some of Asia’s best.

“It will take some time, and I’m excited for this opportunity,” Natt says, adding that besides the National team, he will focus his attention in helping the future of Indian basketball coaching and playing, too. “I am looking forward to taking part in a ‘Feeder System’, where I coach the coaches, and then they go back to coach the best players. I’m also excited to see some of the Youth-level talent in India: it is this younger crop who need to be imbedded with the right basketball fundamentals now so that they can become stars of the future.”

A 1.2 billion population. The largest youth-population in the world. A country at the brink of becoming the next big thing in basketball, ready to mature from infancy into a basketball-playing and basketball-loving nation. And an opportunity to rekindle the purest form of joy as a basketball coach: teaching.

Add it up, and you’ll see that the question that anyone should be asked is, “Why not India?”

IMG Basketball’s Bobby Sharma: “The future of Indian basketball is very, very bright"

Bobby Sharma is Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, Basketball, for IMG, the global sports and media company. IMG, in their partnership with Reliance, have come together to work with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) to oversee the growth of basketball in India. Sharma who is in India to oversee the growth of IMG’s basketball business visited the 28th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys & Girls in Nagpur (Maharashtra) this past week to watch some of the best U-16 players from around the country take part in this competitive tournament.

The brand new Indoor Stadium at Mankapur, in Nagpur, was almost as much of a showcase as the talent on the floor. The stadium was inauguarated on the opening day of the Youth Nationals by Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday. I got a chance to speak to Sharma, who was welcomed at the tournament and introduced to some of the participating players on Saturday, about the emerging basketball talent and infrastructure in India.

Hoopistani. What are your thoughts on the new stadium and facilities and the host city of the Youth Nationals, Nagpur?

Sharma: “As the geographic epicenter of the country, Nagpur makes a perfect host for events such as the 28th BFI Under-16 Youth National Championships. I think that this Indoor Stadium of the Divisional Sports Complex is absolutely beautiful. Thanks to the great efforts of the government officials and Harish Sharma of the Basketball Federation of India, this arena is a showcase venue, not only for Nagpur, but all of India.”

Q. What impression have the Youth players left on you after watching them play? Have you noticed any standout players or teams at this competition?

Sharma: “The impression I get is that the future of Indian basketball is very, very bright. I was just remarking to one of the coaches yesterday how impressed I was with the level of the talent and athleticism on display, for both boys and girls, from all over India. But the thing that struck me the most was how much fun everyone was having, how much joy so many have for the game – and that isn't limited to the kids. It's so great to see basketball in its most pure and organic form, played, coached, officiated, organized, and watched out of love.”

Q. What should be the next step in improving youth and grass roots level basketball in India?

Sharma: “That is an important question, as improving youth and grassroots basketball is one of the highest priorities of the great partnership forged between IMG Reliance and the BFI. I think we have recently taken a giant leap forward with the hiring of three incredible coaches from the highest levels of basketball for the senior teams - Kenny Natt from the NBA, and Pete Gaudet and Zak Penwell from the most elite Division I American colleges. Importing their knowledge and passion for the game into the existing structures of the BFI, stretching throughout the entire country, will yield immediate and long-lasting returns all the way to the youngest and newest players and coaches.”

“I am incredibly honored to be here, and so thankful for all the warmth and kindness I have received from the Indian basketball community. I already feel I am part of the BFI family.”

Poonam Chaturvedi: The next next big thing

Off the court, she quietly tries to hide behind her teammates. But while silence may deny us from hearing her, she can’t stay visibly hidden for too long. A month shy of her 16th birthday, Poonam Chaturvedi is already 6 foot 6 inches tall, at least half a foot bigger than any of the other girls in her Chhattisgarh Youth team. Any attempt to hide is futile.

Poonam Chaturvedi grew so tall, so quickly, that she has already forgotten tall she exactly was just three years ago.

“A grew a lot when I was 13,” she says.

“How much did you grow?” I ask, trying to get her to be a bit more specific.

“A lot.”

It isn’t easy for a 6 foot 6 inch human being to hide, but everything from Poonam’s own shy demeanour to the years she played ball silently away from the public eye indicate that somehow, this giant teenager remained a secret. Women’s basketball in India is mostly a small girl’s game, and so anyone with the perfect advantage of height and skills literally rises head and shoulders above all to dominate. See the case of Geethu Anna Jose, India’s best known basketball player, who at 6 foot 2 has been the best player in the Women’s game for half a decade and became the first Indian to be invited for a WNBA trial.

Still at the U16 level, Poonam has already become the tallest female basketball player in India. The height came by nature, but it is the work she is putting into her game now that will help her grow into the best basketball player that she can be.

Born and bred in Kanpur (UP), Poonam now finds herself as the centerpiece of the U-16 girls side representing the Chhattisgarh state at the Youth National Basketball Championship in Nagpur. After a false start to her basketball career at the hostel in Agra, she was spotted at the National Women’s Games in Chhattisgarh by Chhattisgarh Basketball Association’s secretary Rajesh Patel. A man with a shrewd eye for scouting and grooming successful women’s basketball players, Patel, who is also the coach of Chhattisgarh’s women teams, realised that the young giant Poonam would have to become his next project.

“We saw her playing for UP at the Women’s Games and we wanted to speak to her,” Patel says, “Over the next four months, I must have called her father 30 to 40 times to try and convince him to send her to join our basketball camp in Billai (Chhattisgarh).”

Patel’s camp and hostel in Billai has gained the reputation of becoming Indian Basketball’s talent factory – it took until the end of April before Poonam finally joined the other talented young girls at the hostel, and the opportunity couldn’t have come a moment too soon.

“Back in Agra, her game wasn’t developing at all,” said Patel, “There were only six or seven girls in the hostel there, so the only practice they got was shoot-around, there were never enough to play a full five-on-five game. When we recruited her to Chhattisgarh, we barely had a month to make sure she fit in with the system. She had to be ready to play for our U16 team at the Youth Nationals.”

Her big unveiling, and her first competitive game for Chhattisgarh, was against Uttarakhand on the first day of the Youth Nationals. Still showing a lack of coordination in fitting in with the run-n-gun Chhattisgarh side, Poonam nevertheless managed to score 14 points in a dominating blowout win for her side.

“We’ve had to practice extra to fit her in,” Patel says, “For the last month, the girls would be up at 4 in the morning to practice extra drills and extra plays that involve Poonam.”

Patel’s Chhattisgarh sides have always suffered from height, but never have they let that come between them and success. In producing one of the most-triumphant programmes ever in several different age levels over the last decade, Patel has preached a style of ball-hawking defense and quick fast-break baskets to make sure that his teams almost always win.

Now, both Patel and his latest recruit are in new territory: the coach because he has to change his offensive and defensive schemes around a taller but slower player, and Poonam because she was playing with a quick team which already carried with it a winning culture. It was no surprise then that she was a step too slow in her early competitions with Chhattisgarh, but both player and coach realise that there is a long road to improvement.

“My game has improved a lot since I came to Chhattisgarh,” she says, “But I want to keep playing harder and keep improving. This is a good defensive team and I realise that my defense will need work to fit in: I still need to learn how to always stay in front of the player I’m guarding.”

Patel is even more critical of his young and potential-ridden player. “We have changed our defensive patterns for her, and she will have to fit in. But there are a lot more areas where we have been working hard on, giving her hours of extra, individual training: her jumping/athletic ability, her back to the basket game, free throws, showing, dribbling, and of course, we want her to gain more weight and bring a lot more power to her game.”

Yet, regardless of the holes in Poonam’s game, it isn’t difficult to see why this 6 foot 6 teenager is garnering all the hype at the competition. She already has a naturally good shooting stroke, a good offensive post game, and in just her first month of proper basketball training, she has become good enough to be a real threat for opponents at the Youth Nationals.

“She makes our team a lot better too,” Patel adds, “We now feel a psychological edge of having the tallest player whenever we go against any opponent. With her on this side, I know this team can qualify for the final.

But both Poonam and Patel are looking way beyond the Youth Nationals: Patel’s next aim is to make sure that Poonam is chosen for Indian National U16 Select Camp after this tournament. He is also hopeful that, with the arrival of a world class strength trainer Zak Penwell, Poonam will have just the kind of guidance she needs to bulk up into perfect shape.

“Her future is very bright,” says Patel, “She’s still young, and is already the tallest player in India: she can go a long way.”

And while her coach gives the outspoken support, and while the comparisons of ‘next Geethu’ pour in, Poonam remains confident in her own quiet and calm way. “I want to play for India,” she says.

No matter how hard she tries, a big girl with potentially bigger talent like Poonam can’t remain hidden behind anyone. Kanpur and Agra saw her grow, Chhattisgarh helped her develop, and Nagpur will see the early fruits of the combination of skill and size. And it won’t be long before all of India Basketball knows about the next next big thing.

Kenny Natt to Coach Indian Basketball

India welcomes three world-class coaches for its national teams

This article was first published on SLAMOnline.com on May 18th, 2011

If there’s one thing that you can say with complete surety about Indian culture is that we treat our guests with honor. As a child, when my family had visitors staying over and I refused to give up my bedroom for the guests, my mother would take me to a corner and repeat the old Indian proverb: “Mehmaan Bhagwan Saman Hai” – The Guest is like God.

Yes, guests in India are showered with presents, treated like royalty, and are force-fed meals until their stomachs churn (we consider this a good thing). Anyone who has ever been welcomed into an Indian household knows that, when it comes to food, ‘I’m full’ means ‘I could eat two more rotis, please,’ and a firm ‘No’ means, ‘Yes, I wouldn’t mind that last piece of Butter Chicken.’ From simple households to State Diplomats, the over-welcoming philosophy of the Indian people (mostly) remains.

And this is one of the major reasons why, despite all the teething troubles that have hampered the game of basketball in the past (rampant corruption at the state level, backward infrastructure, little cohesive organization, etc.) the game continues has continued to develop at a good pace. India has welcomed the world of basketball with open arms – from IMG Worldwide to the NBA – and in return, the world of basketball has invested wisely to the growth of the game in India. The welcoming attitude has worked well in our favor, as everything from infrastructure to personnel is now showing promise of progress.

April in particular was especially big for the game in India. Geethu Anna Jose, the former captain of the Indian Women’s team, became the first Indian to get a tryout with the WNBA – she wasn’t accepted, but she left a good impression with the Chicago Sky, the L.A. Sparks, and the San Antonio Silver Stars. Meanwhile, Bucks’ point guard Brandon Jennings made a trip over to our shores, becoming the 16th NBA/WNBA player/legend to visit India over the past three years.

But the biggest piece of news was leaked out this week, as the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) announced that it hired three world-class coaches to lead the Indian Basketball Teams and further the BFI’s grassroots growth of the game in India.

Kenny Natt, who was interim head coach of the Sacramento Kings after the firing of Reggie Theus during the ‘08-09 season, has been brought on board to coach the Indian Senior National Men’s Basketball team. Natt was an assistant coach under Jerry Sloan with the Utah Jazz from 1995-2004, and was part of the team that twice reached the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998. He then became an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2004-2007, including the season when the LeBron James-led Cavs reached the NBA Finals.

Natt’s first job will be to work with Indian Men’s team at a camp in Delhi in preparation for the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship set to be held in Wuhan (China) in September. Natt will be taking over the reins of the Men’s team after Coach Bill Harris, formerly head coach of NCAA DIII side Wheaton College, who led the Indian team to the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou (China).

The Indian Senior Women’s National team will be headed by Pete Gaudet, a famous name amongst college instructors. Gaudet has been involved with college hoops for over 40 years, coaching both men’s and women’s basketball in the process, including holding positions at West Point, Duke, Vanderbilt and Ohio State. While at Duke (as mostly an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski), Gaudet won two NCAA Championships and made seven Final Fours, coaching eight All-Americans, three national players of the year, and 12 NBA draft picks.

Like Natt, Gaudet will also be preparing the Women’s side for the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship – the Women’s edition of this competition will be held in Omaru and Nagasaki in Japan at the end of August. Before Gaudet, the Indian Women’s side was coached by WNBA player Tamika Raymond at the 2010 Asian Games.

Lastly, the BFI brought in Zak Penwell as a Strength and Conditioning coach for the national sides in India, the first time that such an appointment has been made for the national level players in the country. In the past, the Indian national teams had been thoroughly exposed by several Asian opponents who were stronger, faster and more durable – even if the skill and talent level was closed, India lagged behind when it came to their physical fitness and performed poorly.

The last bit of news has been especially encouraging for top-level Indian players like Jose, who admitted that she struggled amongst the stronger American players during her WNBA tryouts. And now, with experienced NBA and college coaches being the guiding forces behind some of India’s brightest stars, expectations are high for the country to follow in China’s footsteps and play up to its potential – more than a sixth of the world’s population is over in India, and it is about time that the country ends its historic underperformance in most other sports excluding cricket.

Meanwhile, the other pieces to complete basketball’s jigsaw puzzle are shaping up nicely: Jose may not have qualified for the WNBA, but a tryout in itself was a major step forward. Youngsters have been encouraged by her success and are now confident that they can follow her footsteps to the world’s best leagues.

The biggest contribution comes by the hand of IMG-Worldwide, who in their partnership with India’s Reliance Industries is hell bent to change the face of the game – IMG-Reliance have been behind every major development for the BFI since 2010.

The NBA continues to put a lot of its time and effort in developing grassroots popularity of the game here: Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Brandon Jennings and George Gervin, to name a few, have carried the message of hoops to this cricket-crazy country over the last year. The NBA has held inner-city recreational leagues in five major cities around the country, and this year, introduced a Junior Skills Challenge to get the kids started early.

And then of course, there are the players themselves. More than ever, young players are taking basketball seriously as a career option and present stars are hopeful that they will one day participate in India’s own National Basketball League. The biggest (in size and potential) hope comes in the size-22 sneakers of Satnam Singh Bhamara, the 15-year-old, 7-2 inch giant with a rare combination of size and skill who is currently a student-athlete at the world-renowned IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL and is, as we called him on SLAMonline, the ‘Big Indian Basketball Hope.’

So yes, we’re ready to welcome the world of Basketball in India, bring it into our households, treat it with the respect that only a guest deserves, and make sure that we feed it until it’s full and then feed it a little more.

Is the world ready to welcome us?

Basketball Federation of India Signs World-Class Coaches to Lead Indian National Basketball Teams

BFI Appoints experienced former NBA and elite U.S. college coaches to take training and development efforts to the next level for both players and coaches

New Delhi, May 17, 2011: The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has announced the appointment of three preeminent American coaches to lead India’s men’s and women’s national basketball teams, and further the BFI’s grassroots growth of the game in India. Kenny Natt, with 3 years playing and 13 years coaching experience in the National Basketball Association (NBA), was named as the Head Coach of the Indian Men’s Senior Team, and esteemed U.S. college men’s and women’s coaching veteran Pete Gaudet as the Head Coach of the Indian Women’s Senior Team. Natt and Gaudet will be taking over the reins from Bill Harris and Tamika Raymond, respectively, who led such efforts in 2010. Additionally, Zak Penwell, a highly trained, experienced, and regarded strength & conditioning coach will serve in that capacity to support all men’s and women’s national basketball team efforts. All the three coaches will be based at the Basketball Federation of India in New Delhi.

IMG Reliance, which recently partnered with BFI to develop the sport of basketball in the country, was instrumental in identifying and forging the relationships with this top coaching talent.

For 13 seasons, Kenny Natt was an assistant coach for the NBA’s Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Sacramento Kings, including as the head coach of the Kings during the 2008-09 NBA season. The Players coached by Natt include NBA legends John Stockton and Karl Malone, as well as current NBA superstar LeBron James. Natt also had a 3-year NBA playing career with the Indiana Pacers and the Jazz, having been the 7th pick in the 2nd round of the 1980 NBA Draft.

The epitome of an accomplished basketball coaching veteran, Pete Gaudet has been in basketball for more than 40 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position. He has coached both men and women at the highest levels of American college basketball, including positions at West Point, Duke University, Vanderbilt, and The Ohio State University, and has extensive technical and international basketball experience. While at Duke, Gaudet won 2 NCAA men’s championships and made 7 Final Fours, coaching 8 All-Americans, 3 national players of the year, and 12 NBA draft picks.

As the BFI’s Strength & Conditioning Coach, Zak Penwell will be responsible for developing and implementing specialized nutritional, strength training, and conditioning programs for all Indian national men’s and women’s teams. He will also advise Indian coaches throughout the BFI system to enhance and nurture the development of top basketball talent throughout the country. Penwell comes most recently from Scotland’s Sportscotland Institute of Sport, where he worked with athletes from a range of national teams including swimming, basketball, sprint canoe, judo, rugby, golf, curling, triathlon, and field hockey. Since 2006 he has spent over 40,000 athlete contact hours in the weight room, with over 550 elite collegiate and international-level athletes. Penwell is a graduate of the U.S. men’s and women’s college basketball power the University of Connecticut, where he earned two degrees from the top Kinesiology program in America.

In addition to individual skill development and team coaching of the elite men’s and women’s players in India, Natt, Gaudet, and Penwell will play integral roles in the development of basketball coaching talent in the country, educating and mentoring Indian basketball coaches throughout the BFI system. They will also be deeply involved in construction of the BFI’s and IMGR’s overall basketball development plan for both the Youth and Senior Men’s and Women’s National Team programs.

“We are excited beyond words to bring on board these three incredible coaches, who will play a critical role in helping us achieve our vision of growing basketball in India by developing and showcasing the best player and coaching talent in the country,” commented Mr. Harish Sharma, BFI Chief Executive Officer. “The introduction of this wealth of basketball knowledge and ability is a watershed moment for Indian basketball.”

“IMG Reliance played a pivotal role in making this foundation for the future a reality, and is indicative of the tremendous potential that the BFI-IMG Reliance relationship holds to take basketball to greater heights in India."

Sharma added: “The support given to the BFI and IMGR by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports of the Government of India was instrumental in making the hiring of the coaches possible. The Government of India continues to offer its full backing of our vision for growing the sport of basketball in the country.”

“IMGR’s relationship with BFI has been an endorsement of the true spirit of partnership,” said Bobby Sharma, IMG Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, Basketball. “The support from management at the BFI for our ideas and the framework for the sport of basketball in India has been wholehearted. The appointment of these world-class coaches marks the beginning of an exciting journey, and we are confident that the elite Indian basketball players and coaches will begin to have their true potential unlocked before our eyes, under the guidance and leadership of Kenny, Pete and Zak. In line with the vision articulated by Mrs. Nita Ambani and the active support from the BFI, IMG Reliance looks forward to encouraging the growth of this talent pool of young Indian men and women, as they compete internationally and successfully represent India on the world stage.”