India's Men's Basketball team to tip off FIBA ABC - Hope, patience, & prediction

If you follow (or want to follow) basketball in India, there is no better time to start paying attention than now: The Indian Men's team has qualified for the 26th FIBA Asia Basketball Championship (ABC), which will be held in Wuhan, China, from September 15-25. This is the biggest basketball tournament for Indian Basketball, featuring 16 of the continent's finest basketball teams (out of 44 federations).

The prize? The winner of the tournament automatically qualifies for the 2012 Olympic Games basketball tournament in London, while the top three teams will qualify for the 2014 FIBA World Championship, featuring the best basketball teams on the planet.

This would be India's 22nd time taking part in this biennial tournament, and no, we haven't had too much success here in the past. Our best finish was a fourth place in Thailand in 1975. We haven't finished in the top eight since 2003. Most recently, at the 25th FIBA ABC in Tianjin, China, in 2009, we finished at 13th place.

In the 2009 championship, Iran beat China in the final to win the gold medal.

I don't believe in false optimism, but this year, there is at least a glimmer of hope that, no matter the result, our Young Cagers from India will be causing some of their more favoured rivals some headaches on court. The reason, mostly, is coach Kenny Natt, formerly an NBA head coach, and a man on a mission to adhere the same tactics with players on the Indian National side that he did with hall of fame basketball players whom he has worked with in the NBA. Now, be assured, Natt has no magic stick to suddenly improve India's fitness, shooting ability, athleticism, mental strength, and all the other background crap ailing sports in the country: We have to have patience as things will improve slowly. What Natt does bring is a sense of professionalism, experience, and respect to the team. It will be interesting to see how they respond to him in this tough championship.

This, of course, isn't Natt's first date in serious international competition with India: two months ago, he led India to three easy blowout victories over neighbours Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to qualify for the FIBA ABC. Watching those games offered a sense of the shape that India had taken under him, but in Wuhan, you can be rest assured that the competition will be multiple times sterner.

Upon his departure, Natt had said “I expect the Indian team to be competitive every night. We will concentrate on one game at a time. I know that we will be a well prepared squad and I aim that, through our performances, we can earn the respect of our opponents.”

India’s 12-player squad includes 15 year old basketball prodigy, Satnam Singh Bhamara, India’s youngest team member. Satnam, an IMG Reliance Scholar, trains at the IMG Basketball Academy in Florida, USA and made his debut with India’s senior team in the Middle Asia Zone Qualifying Round in July.

India's full squad at this tournament will be: Amrit Pal Singh, Amjyot Singh, Dishant Shah, Hareesh Koroth, Jagdeep Singh Bains, Narender Grewal, Prakash Mishra, Satnam Singh Bhamara, Talwinderjit Singh "TJ" Sahi, Trideep Rai, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, and Yadwinder Singh.

This squad is slightly different from the one that played in the qualifiers in July: most importantly, India is missing on major veteran presence in starting point guard Sambhaji Kadam and bench swingman Riyazuddin, both who are away because of injury. Kadam will particularly be missed, as he was the best 'pass-first' point guard for the team - but his absence has opened the door for a chance at redemption for Mr. Air India himself, aka TJ Sahi. In a past shaded by that explosive crossover dribble, dunk competition victories, a solid performance against Yi Jianlian of China, and unfortunately, a series of on/off court behaviour issues, Sahi has been one of the most paradoxical stars of the Indian game. Luckily, under Natt's eye, he has become a lot more disciplined, and it seems that he will be leading the squad from the front as the team's starting point guard.

So the starting line-up seems to be of Sahi at PG, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi at SG (young, experienced, do-it-all swingman, and my personal favourite player on the Indian side), Trideep Rai (our designated sharp-shooter) as SF, and the Punjabi big men combo of Yadwinder Singh and Jagdeep Singh Bains in the frontcourt. Both Yadwinder and Jagdeep are high-energy players, but at around 6 foot 6, will be both undersized when going against Asia's other behemoths.

This is where the bench comes in: it seems to be the golden age for young big men in India. On the bench, we have 20 year old Amrit Pal Singh (6 foot 10), 19 year old Amjyot Singh (6 foot 9), 19 year old Dishant Shah (6 foot 9), and of course, 15 year old Satnam Singh Bhamara (7 foot 1). What these players have in height, unfortunately, they lack in experience. Only Shah had played senior internationals for India before this year, and while there is a lot of potential in these four big men, none of them are yet mentally strong and physically complete to be starters.

The squad is completed with the hard-working backcourt combo of Prakash Mishra and Hareesh Koroth, and another new-comer into the side, Narender Grewal.

Natt has picked the best available players for this tournament, but beyond the starting five plus Prakash and Koroth, there is a definitive lack of experience which may hurt us.

At the MAZ Qualifiers, India played with impressive aggression on defense which led to easy fast break points, and also displayed some great set offensive plays that helped us get many good open shots. In the blowouts, Natt was also able to experiment with the line-up and balance the minutes out. With tougher teams facing us this time around, I expect a lot more pressure on our starters to out up heroic performances for their country.

Now, on to our opponents: The tournament consists of four groups of four teams each. India, ranked 50th in the FIBA World Rankings, is in Group A at the 2011 FIBA ABC, along with Lebanon (ranked 24th), Malaysia (70), and Korea (31). We will be playing these three teams in order in the Preliminary Round on our first three days of the tournament. Korea is the most historically successful side in our group, having won 2 gold and 11 silvers at the tournament, but Lebanon have had more recent success, as they finished 4th in 2009 over Korea's 7th. Malaysia is a side ranked below us, and although that makes us technically favourites to win, they have known to give us problems in the past.

To qualify from our group and move forward into the Second Round (and thus, hope for a top 12 finish), India need to finish in the top 3 of group A, which means that we need to win at least one of our three games. This seems to be very likely: Malaysia are ranked far below us, and the positive momentum of Natt's team might help us overcome them. Beating either Lebanon or Korea and finishing in the top 2, of course, is a far more ambitious challenge.

The Second Round will consist of two groups of six teams each, and the top three teams in one group will play against the top three teams in the other. If all goes as planned, India will likely play against Iran, Qatar, and Chinese Taipei in this round. These are all better teams than us, but if we can get a miraculous victory somewhere here, we might be able to qualify for the Quarter Finals (and a top 8 finish) - Chinese Taipei is probably the best bet for that miracle, because the two Middle Eastern teams will be too strong for us.

The final round, which will consists of the quarters, semis, and finals, will start on Sep 23rd. If India is knocked out, we will play in Classification games to find our final rank.

I will be hoping for (and predicting) an improvement over last time's rank for India: I think we can definitely move on to the Second Round and thus, at least, ensure a top 12 finish. Even if we don't qualify for the Quarter-Finals after this round, we will have a chance to finish between 9-12th.

So, with hesitant optimism, I await the start of the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship - you can follow the recaps of the game on the Wuhan 2011 website or a more India-focused recap on the Basketball Federation of India's website. As much as possible, I will also be posting updates about India's progress on my Facebook and Twitter page.

Go India!

Indian All Stars sparkle Mumbai with two electrifying games

The best basketball players in India came out to put up an extraordinary display of skill, athletic ability, and hoops intelligence at the Mastan YMCA court in Nagpada, Mumbai on Saturday, April 9 at the Indian All Star Games. The finest Indian men and women players, from all across the country, were invited to play in these exhibition matches that produced plenty of thrills and a few dominating performances.

For both the games, the players were divided into two teams each, WEST and EAST. The toast of the night was definitely Geethu Anna Jose, India’s biggest basketball star, who has recently been invited to tryout with several teams in the US-based basketball league, the WNBA. On Saturday, Geethu was at her dominant best, scoring 41 points in the Women’s All Star Game to lead the Team WEST to a 77-74 victory over Team EAST. In the Men’s game, Team EAST won 95-82.

The first-of-its-kind event in India was organised by Ibrahim Lakdawala of Lakdawala Developer PVT. LTD.

In the Women’s game, WEST took an early lead behind Geethu’s unstoppable inside play and support from Indian woman’s captain, Prashanti Singh (21), but sharp-shooting by Delhi’s Raspreet Sidhu (21) kept the EAST close in the game. With WEST holding on to a comfortable eight point lead at the beginning of the last period, EAST began to mount a comeback with a flurry of three-pointers by Bharti Netam, Anju Lakra, and Manisha Dange. But it wasn’t enough and the WEST held on for the three-point victory.

Hindi film actress Neetu Chandra was an added attraction for the fans present, as she displayed her own hoop skills as part of the Women’s EAST team. Chandra, who has been an active basketball player, has been participating in regularly in basketball events at the Mastan YMCA.

The Men’s game featured some exciting and athletic play, sharp passes, and fancy lay-ups by some of India’s finest. The EAST side made it a point to be dominant from the very beginning, leading 42-33 at the half and sustaining their strong play for the rest of the game, too. Trideep Rai (21) and Yadwinder Singh (18) did most of the damage from the EAST team, while Jagdeep Singh Bains scored a game-high 22 for WEST. In the end, EAST ran away to a 95-82 victory.

Awards

WINNERS – Women’s WEST & Men’s EAST: Awarded with Rs. 40,000 each.
RUNNERS-UP – Women’s EAST & Men’s WEST: Awarded with Rs. 25,000 each.
Most Valuable Player (MVP) – Geethu Anna Jose (Women’s WEST)
Best Player Awards – Prashanti Singh (Women’s WEST), Raspreet Sidhu (Women’s EAST), & Jagdeep Singh Bains (Men’s WEST).

Several awards were handed out to the outstanding players of the game, including BlackBerry phones, Laptops, travel bags, Grinder Mixer, and cash.

The All Star Weekend’s first day was Friday, April 8th when the gathered crowd witnessed a Men’s and Women’s 3-point shooting competition, won by Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Akansha Singh respectively, and a Men’s Slam Dunk contest, where Bhriguvanshi and TJ Sahi were named joint winners.

Indian Basketball’s All Star Weekend in be held in Mumbai on April 8-9

Get ready for Indian basketball’s brightest stars to shine together: For the second year, the top Men and Women players in India will descend to the Mastan YMCA in Mumbai to take part in Indian Basketball’s All Star Weekend - India All Star - on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th of April, 2011. Organised by Ibrahim Lakdawala of Lakdawala Developer PVT. LTD., the two day event will host skills competitions on April 8th and the Men and Women All Star Games on April 9th, featuring the most talented players in the country divided into East and West sides.

India’s most popular and exciting players, from all over the country, have been invited by the organisers for this landmark event, which will be an opportunity for Indian hoops aficionados to see their favourite players in action against each other. “We had organised the All Star Game on a small scale last year,” said Lakdawala, a former national-level player for the country, who has been the brainchild behind the project, “But this time, we will be hosting a much bigger event.”

The events on Friday will include a three-point shooting competition for Men & Women and a Slam Dunk Competition for Men. The All Star Games will be held on Saturday evening: the participants in the two games will be divided into East and West sides. The all stars will include top-level players such as Jagdeep Singh, Yadwinder Singh, Trideep Rai, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Geethu Anna Jose, Anitha Pau Durai, Prashanti Singh, and Akanksha Singh.

“It will be a fun festival of basketball,” said Salim Shaikh, the co-organiser of the event, “We hope that our players will enjoy participating against each other. There will be a lot of exciting prizes for all the players.

“In addition, we will have a lot of merchandise for the fans, including T-shirts featuring their favourite Indian players,” Shaikh added.

The All Star Game will also mark as a fitting prelude to the Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament, set to tip off at the Indian Gymkhana Grounds in Matunga, Mumbai, from April 10-17.

Indian All Star Teams

WOMEN

East

Anitha Pau Durai (Tamil Nadu) - Captain
Seema Singh (Chhattisgarh)
Sonika Ohylan (Delhi)
Raspreet Sidhu (Delhi)
Bharti Netam (Chhattisgarh)
Asha Hegde (Delhi)
Pushma M. (Chhattisgarh)
Anju Lakra (Chhattisgarh)
Savihta C.S. (Karnataka)
Manisha Dange (Maharashtra)

West

Prashanti Singh (Delhi) - Captain
Geethu Anna Jose (Tamil Nadu)
Divya Singh (Delhi)
Akanksha Singh (Delhi)
Varsha Verma (Delhi)
Kokila (Tamil Nadu)
Aakansha Singh (Chhattisgarh)
Sonam (Karnataka)
Sagarika Shyam (Karnataka)
Smrithi (Maharashtra)

MEN

East

Yadwinder Singh (Railways) - Captain
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Railways)
Trideep Rai (ONGC)
Anoop (ONGC)
Jai Ram Jat (Services)
Harish Koroth (IOB)
Shanmugam Sridhar (ONGC)
Arvind (Railways)
Arjun Singh (Railways)
Ajay Pratap Singh (Chhattisgarh)
Amrit Pal Singh (Punjab)
Murali Krishna R. (ONGC)

West

Riyazuddin (ONGC) - Captain
Jagdeep Singh (Punjab)
Shabeer (ONGC)
Mihir Pandey (IOB)
Jasjot Singh (Railways)
Narender Kumar (Services)
Mohit Bhandari (ONGC)
Gagandeep Singh (Railways)
Bobby Singh (Uttar Pradesh)
Talwinderjit Singh Sahi (Punjab)
Jaskaran Singh / Amjyot Singh (Punjab) – not confirmed yet

Western Railway hoist first-ever RIBA League trophy

It was the perfect ending that the exciting new tournament desired: the final of the first-ever RIBA League tournament held at the DDA Sports Complex in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, came down to two of the strongest basketball teams – Western Railway and Indian Air Force – clawing at each other for the win. At the end, the back and forth game saw several lead changes, but Western Railway survived to notch a 64-60 victory.

The Reebok IGMA Basketball Association (RIBA) tournament was organised by the IGMA Sports Management company,in affiliation with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). The five-day league-cum-knockout tournament, featuring some of the top basketball players in India, was launched at the DDA Sports Complex in Vasant Kung earlier this week. Eight of the top Men’s club teams in India took part in this new competition.

In a tournament full of close games, it was fitting that the finale was a thriller as well. Both the teams played out an intense, close game. At halftime, Railway held a 35-28 lead, but Air Force made sure to never let them out of their sight in the second half, mounting regular comebacks as the lead changed several times. At the end, it was Railway to stood winners, behind 25 points by Gagan Deep Singh and 17 points by Yadwinder Singh.

Despite the loss, Jogender put in a valiant performance for Air Force, finishing with 24 points and bagging the Finals' man of the match award. Narendar Kumar chipped in 15 for Air Force.

The winning team walked away with prize money of Rs. 75,000 while the runners-up were awarded Rs. 45,000.

Narendar Kumar of Indian Air Force, who was the competition's leading scorer was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Additional awards were given for the tournament's top rebounder to Gagan Deep Singh and best defender to Yadwinder Singh, both of Western Railway.

BFI's Secretary-General Mr. Harish Sharma, Indian international cricketer Ishant Sharma, and a host of other dignitaries attended the championship.

RIBA League brings back club basketball to Delhi

With a thunderous in-game dunk, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi brought the rim literally crashing down. It had happened for the second time that day. The on-court action had to take a pause.

Amazingly, even a broken rim is worth the highlight of witnessing a show-stopping dunk. And there has been no shortage of show-stopping highlights at the RIBA League in Delhi this year.

Until about two years ago, there was one prestigious, All-India, basketball club tournament in Delhi, a tournament hosted by the Prithvi Nath Club (PNC). Unfortunately, ever since the PNC court was broken down, the country’s capital has been devoid of a top-level club tournament.

But thanks to the Reebok IGMA Basketball Association (RIBA) League, club basketball is back in Delhi this year: Organised by the IGMA Sports Management company and in affiliation with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the five-day league-cum-knockout tournament, featuring some of the top basketball players in India, was launched at the DDA Sports Complex in Vasant Kung earlier this week. Eight of the top Men’s club teams in India are taking part in this new competition, which is set to conclude with the Final on March 6th.

“We had only been involved with organising corporate cricket tournaments earlier,” said Rajeev Mahajan, the young Director of IGMA, “But we wanted to expand into other sports. I got the help of some basketball players in Delhi to help set up this tournament.”

Mahajan added: “I had never really followed basketball before, but have been enjoying the intensity of the games here. It has been going well and we want to take this tournament to an even bigger level next year.”

The IGMA was given all the right kind of support in helping set this tournament up: former Indian Women’s basketball captain Divya Singh, her younger sister Akanksha, who is a player in the Delhi team, and many more Delhi players came to the aid of IGMA. The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) lent its hand to in organising the event. Sponsorship came via Reebok and ONGC.

“We really wanted to see an established All-India basketball tournament in Delhi,” says Divya, “This year is a trial run – we are hoping to incorporate Women’s teams from next year’s competition.”

The participating teams feature some of the biggest names in Indian basketball. For the first year, Chennai Customs, Air Force, Signals, PNC, Western Railway, Army, RCF, and hosts DDA Sports Club signed up to take part. A pleasant surprise of the tournament so far has been that the participating teams have been extremely competitive against each other – there have barely been any blowouts and most games have been decided in the last minutes, giving the fans some exciting hoops action on the court.

On the first day of the games, a Slam Dunk contest was organised, which was won by Western Railway and Indian National team forward Yadwinder Singh. The dunks have been falling regularly in games and in practice too. The rims get fixed and the action continues!

Just like IGMA have taken a step away from cricket to embrace basketball, so have some of India’s best-known cricketers. Pace bowler Ishant Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan (better known for his stint with the Delhi Daredevils) have been making regular visits to the sidelines of the RIBA League to soak in the hoop action. Sharma, who watched basketball for the first time, has been especially impressed.

And if IGMA continue their promotion in the game, there will be more in the city who will start enjoying it – Mahajan revealed his plans to start a basketball academy in the city. With the right kind of leadership and coaching, we could see a lot more youngsters embracing the game, and one day, hopefully soaring skywards for thunderous dunks of their own!

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.

Yadwinder Singh: Indian Basketball's Energy Bar

As the opposing team's best player dribbles towards his basket, Yadwinder Singh claps his hands together, almost violently, psyching himself up on defense. With an agile and quick 6 foot 6 inch frame, he is capable of guarding almost anyone, from speedy point guards to powerful, back to the basket post players. Yadwinder stays in front of the attacking player, blocking his vision at the basket. As the player drives in, he is forced to change his shot, which clanks off the side of the rim.

Yadwinder grunts loudly as he grabs the rebounds - it's his and his alone. He passes the ball to one of the guards on hid team and races ahead, beating everyone else on court to get to the opposition's basket. Before anyone else can react, he is in perfect position to receive the ball under the basket and lay it up. A few milliseconds later, he's back at the defensive end, turning passes into turnovers, and defense into offense, as he shows his range by nailing a smooth outside jumper.

There are few players in Indian basketball like Yadwinder Singh, or ‘Yadu', as we know him. A monster at both ends of the floor, Yadu seems to be on a constant energy rush, as if Red Bull has given him the wings to fly and keep flying. Defense to offense to defense and back and over and over again… There seems to be no full stops to his energy, just commas. Even when the game pauses for a free throw, Yadu will be talking, joking, shouting, instructing. Even when he is substituted out of the game, he doesn't stop, keeping his body warm and ready to go back in, jogging, doing push-ups… Constant movement.

I have seen enough NBA basketball to know of one (and only one) NBA comparison that comes to mind as I see Yadu, a Power Forward/Center, run the floor like a guard, defend and score like a big man, and motivate his teammates with an unbelievable rush of electricity and tenacity: Kevin Garnett.

His own motivations on the basketball court match Garnett's too: "I feel like basketball is a game all about the defensive effort," Yadu says, "For all the effort one puts in offense, you have to do double of that on the defensive end."

Yadu's defensive instincts, coupled with his fast-paced style of play, perfectly complement how his teams play. Whether he is representing Punjab, Railways, or India, Yadu believes that the secret to basketball success lies in his pace. "Basketball is one of the fastest games in the world," he says, "And if you aren't going to keep running, then why play it? If my team plays a perfect fast-paced game, we can be unstoppable."

Easily one of the most exciting players to watch in India, Yadu has become an important piece to the Senior National side, as was a starter for the country at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou (China). Compared to many other early starters, Yadu had a late introduction to basketball, a fact that perhaps makes his quick ascension up the game's ranks that much more remarkable.

Yadu, the son of a farmer, hails from a small Punjabi village called Rasulpur Khurd. He was athletically-aligned from a very young age, but there was another sport that he focused on: Discus.

"I used to be a very serious discus thrower in school," he said, "And I took part in several major athletic competitions on Punjab from my school." He was also part of his school's hockey team.

In 2002, not until he was 16 years old, and at that point, stood at 6 foot 3 inches, did he take admission in a school in Amritsar where his coach encouraged him to try basketball. From that point on, Yadu's career took a dramatic upwards swing: he went from the Amritsar team to the Ludhiana Academy and then to the Punjab U17 team, all within a matter of one and a half years. By late 2003, he had his first senior national experience in Cuttack, had played U20 international for India in Kuwait, and participated in the Champions Cup in Malaysia.

The basketball world in India can be thankful that he abandoned his Discus throwing days behind to start throwing the basketball, but it's evident from some of his full-court bullet heaves that the throwing arm still has a lot of juice left in it. "When I look back now, even when I was younger, I used to watch a lot of basketball on TV," he said, "My Dad encouraged me to stay with athletics and discus, but once I crossed over to basketball, it completely consumed me and I didn't have the time to practice any other sport anymore."

Yadu added: "I started to enjoy basketball game a lot. It was a team sport where there was so much interaction with other people. And everything kept coming naturally to me - I kept on getting what I wanted. It was a great feeling to first play for Punjab, and then it became even more amazing to wear an ‘India' jersey for the first time!"

Yadu credits his early coaches for making him work extremely hard, whether it was his Amritsar coach Fateh Chand or Ludhiana's famed basketball trainer, Dr. Subramanyam. "I wanted to learn everything about basketball," and adding a smile, he added, "I stopped paying attention to everything else - including my studies!"

Constantly upbeat, energetic, and light-hearted, Yadu becomes the heart of the any team he joins. His Railways and India teammate Arjun Singh says, "He has incredible energy - and the best thing about his game is that he doesn't back down to anyone, no matter who the opponent is."

Yadu and the rest of the Indian squad faced the toughest of opponents at the Asian Games in November, and although they returned with an unflattering 1-5 record, Yadu took home a lot of positives: in the coaching and in India's potential in Asia. "We had a really good coach in Bill Harris for this tournament," he says, "With a coach like that, if we keep working hard, we can become top four in Asia."

"The future is good," Yadu says, "My dream is to take India to a medal one of the big championships - the Asian Games or the Asian Basketball Championships." The 26th edition of the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship, or the ‘ABC', are set to be held in Wuhan (China) in September this year.

Yadu's optimism off the court, on the future of the game, is as contagious as his optimism on it, where he focuses hard on each defensive assignment, each offensive rebound, and each jump-shot. And if this contagious optimism continues to grow in the hearts of Indian basketball player, we may very well see the day when the Young Cagers make a name for themselves in Asian basketball's biggest stages.