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.

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!

World Cup of Hoops tips off in Turkey

It has been a great summer for top global competitions in my two favourite sports. The excitement and stinging noise of vuvuzelas from the FIFA World Cup have barely stopped ringing in my ears, but now here's more to celebrate for hoop fans: the 2010 FIBA World Championships, featuring the best basketball teams in the world, tipped off in Istanbul, Turkey on August 28th.

The championships features 24 powerhouses of world basketball such as defending champions Spain (who won the tournament in Japan in 2006), 2006 silver medal winners Greece, a USA team full of young NBA stars, and Argentina. Other countries such as Serbia, Russia, Australia, Lithuania, and Brazil are also participating. Asia is featuring four teams too: China, Iran, Jordan, and Lebanon.

Spain and USA are probably joint favourites for this tournament, even though Spain is playing without the 2006 MVP and recent visitor to India Pau Gasol. Spain will be led by Juan Carlos Navarro, teenage phenom Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernandez, and Marc Gasol.

The Americans have kept home their Beijing Olympics gold medal winning squad: So now Wade, Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, etc, etc, etc... They have instead fielded a young, small team of quick guards, so small that Lamar Odom starts at Center. USA's best player is probably NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant. He will be supported by the likes of Derrick Rose, Andre Iguodala, and perhaps the team's only "elder" statesmen, Chauncey Billups.

The home squad of Turkey will also field an interesting lineup featuring NBA player Hedo Turkoglu and Ersan Ilyasova.

Other players to watch out for in this tournament will be Luis Scola (Argentina), Tiago Splitter and Leandro Barbosa (Brazil), Nicolas Batum (France), Goran Dragic (Slovenia), Dimitris Diamantidis (Greece), and Viktor Khryapa (Russia).

Unfortunately, this tournament has been marred by the injuries or omission of players who will not be able to show their skills at the world stage. After the aforementioned plethora of talented American stars and Spaniard Pau Gasol who will be skipping out, other well known names such as Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni (Argentina), Yao Ming (China), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany), Tony Parker (France), Nene (Brazil), and Andrew Bogut (Australia) won't be playing.

Still, the tournament has been able to gather a lot of hype and interest around the world, and could really be a propellent to help launch basketball even more as a global sport.

The competition tipped off last night with a shock, as an unfavoured French side took down defending champions Spain in their first game 72-66. USA took care of business against Croatia, defeating them easily 106-78. China's Yi Jianlian had an impressive start to the tournament with 26 points and 14 rebounds but couldn't stop his team from being put away by Greece 89-81.

On a side note, the Championships will be featuring three official ambassadors from India as part of the "Children of the World" programme. Two Indian sub-juniors Poojamal and Yogesh Kanderia, along with coach P. Deepa Sundari will be amongst hundreds of other youngsters from all FIBA nations to enjoy a short flavour of the championships and attend training camps.

Stay tuned for more info as basketball continues to take over the globe!

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