Punjab

The Hindu : Punjab ends its thirteen-year wait

It's been a while since I tracked Indian Basketball. I went yesterday to Nehru Indoor Stadium, a last minute decision to take the bike across town, to watch the finals of the National Basketball Championships (Nationals). For details of the result, please check the above link.

The court was a revelation: Great venue, air-conditioned indoor stadium. The venue itself was slightly far off city center so couldn't attract the crowd the tournament deserves (seen JJ, TNagar courts with similar crowd for club level tournaments).

It was after the first quarter by the time I reached (missed the women's match completely), and TN was trailing by 6+ points. Only during the late second quarter did TN men look like closing the gap, which was put off in the first few minutes of third quarter by Punjab.

A few players stood out with their game, for TN it was #14 (Rikin Pethani?) was a solid offensive contributor, highlight of the game for me was his floating left hook shot. There were not much variety in the rotation, so Punjab was let off relatively easy in that department.They did catch up to doubling him towards the later part of the game, so have to give Punjab credit for marking him too.

For Punjab, apart from the notable names mentioned in The Hindu article, there was the ball handler #9 (TJ Saini?), who was brilliant with his quickness, and had a fantastic first step which often left his defender flat footed. He was a bit iffy at long range though, missed a couple of open long range shots which would normally be expected of a guard. To his credit, he more than made up for his misses by crashing the boards, often challenging the taller TN players successfully.

Overall, it was a not so memorable final, as Punjab exposed many holes in TN's game, including notably rebounding (both defensive and offensive), fast break, and general ball rotation (keeping eye out for open man). In all these three aspects, there were little things missed by TN which could have swung the match to a closer fight rather than a tame affair.

Lock out

The last time I heard about Lock Out was the first time I heard about it. That was around the time I finished school end of 1998, and heard that the season was truncated. I remember some days at the beginning of the season where I used to get up to catch the early morning broadcast only to find skateboarding, or sailing or golf, and it was not a happy memory. With no instant information or news regarding the NBA, eventually I caught up with bits of basketball in that season. That season, however, was the season which lost its continuity on the timelines that I was used to following, and became the beginning of end of faithful viewing.
Reading up on the present day lock-out I understand a bit of the position of both sides and the reasons why they wish to protect their interest by walking out. However, people who follow this sport around the globe, and for sports bodies in general, people want to follow sports, not the lockout discussions.
While we are on the subject, is Indian Basketball federation taking any efforts to get a few NBA players to visit India, or arrange an exhibition game in the country? Read that the Vegas pickup league is picking up.

Jerry Sloan moves on...

Yes, this has nothing to do with Indian basketball. Well, it's been a year since my last basketball related blog, and since then have been steadily losing touch with NBA news or on Indian Basketball. When I read about Jerry Sloan retiring, and some of the comments on his timing, including Karl Malone's that Sloan's not a 'quitter', just irked me that some of these past legends have it tough.

I remember watching Sloan's Jazz being denied repeatedly by Jordan's Bulls, I remember the 'postman' Malone, and the combination of 'Stockton-Malone' pick'n'roll being repeatedly, and successfully used by Jazz. To be repeatedly denied at the pinnacle must hurt, yet they kept making it to the finals, year after year. Something about the way they play the game impressed not just the TV audience but also many of the wannabe's. Routine, grit, discipline - everything that seemed like plain ol' vanilla (like their home jersey), used to be something which I'd associate with Jazz. It was a team that I loved to hate at the beginning, playing old school basketball, having tough guys (Malone used to play so tough & look mean too... ! :-)) then a team which I paid more attention to later on. Respect, that's what Sloan commanded, and that's what he earned the team.

Jerry Slaon is a great coach that I was lucky enough to see on TV (thanks to repeated finals playoffs), and along with Stockton-Malone, were the people that I knew respected, and followed in Jazz.

Losing talent

The scene in Indian Basketball is no different from other sports. There's the cycle of promises of growth and development, stays there a bit, then the inevitable decline. This cycle's is the first that I've seen with some names and faces that I followed in the early 2000's, now m.i.a from the scene. Good to see fresh faces and promises of growth, but how's this cycle going to end?
From the last cycle (some of those stories are better reported thanks to the internet), there are some sore themes that need to be sorted out. One, focus on infra and sports development is still not there. There are no 'programs' centrally directed at development. Central agencies are keen to pass on the responsibility to state agencies and somewhere along the way there just isn't the accountability factor. Result: Players speaking out, getting banned, and groups of talented players squandering their talents when they are in the prime of their life.
Next is the issue of talent development. In the recent past, opportunities to participate in global leagues opened up to the top talents. Management and coaches argue that this just isn't helpful for team development if a few of the top members disappear from national duty. Conflict of interest. Result: Players frustrated, trust 'bridge' broken.
Another issue is that of the support staff - coaches, managers, physio, etc. etc. who help players focus and help in the development of the players and evolve a team strategy that works. Frequent changes has also contributed to the 'cycle' of stagnation.
How to break this?? Well, lessons from the past can be helpful but there needs to be a change in focus going forward. Part of the problem is that our 'top players' are only a handful. Only if the players are available in plenty would it be possible to raise the overall game. For that better earnest local representation of the sport is the need. The next steps would follow. After all, where success is, recognition and money follows.

Ramu Memorial Basketball from Feb 21- 28 in Mumbai

According to the official website, the Mumbai based basketball tourney will feature 12 teams from all over India. 8 Men teams divided into 2 groups. In Group A: Western Railway, ONGC, Chennai Customs, Vijaya Bank, & Group B: IOB, Services, Punjab, & RCF - Kapurtala, a new team. Women teams: Aamchi Mumbai, Karnataka, SEC Railway & Southern Railway.

The games schedule along with the timings of the matches is also mentioned in their website - thank god for that.
I've been trying to get more details since last week on this tourney, and it was really disappointing to see that absolutely no details were mentioned in the papers or online.

Well, the highlight of this tournament is the 3-point competition and Slam Dunk competition. Wow!! I've seen some players dunk in India, but didn't know that we had a 'competition' of sorts to judge and award the players. I'll try to make it on Saturday Feb 27 to see that or catch it in DD Sports

Rise & Shine

This blog - My blog effort number 2 is primarily focussed on Indian Basketball. Its all about the national/state/club team's Players, stats, results, heck even gossips, anything to do with Indian Basketball, I will try to post here.

Reach out to me if you have similar interests.