Hoopdarshan Episode 6: Satnam Singh Bhamara and the journey to become an Indian NBA prospect

What do you get when you mix Satnam Singh Bhamara - the prospect dreaming of becoming India's first NBA player - and Hoopdarshan - the first Indian basketball podcast? Fireworks, of course! The 7-foot-2, 19-year-old giant Bhamara declared for the NBA draft last month and now hopes to become the first Indian player to make it to the league. On Episode 6 of Hoopdarshan, he joins hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok for an engaging discussion on the improvements he's made on the court over the past few years, his incredible journey from being the son of a Punjabi farmer to becoming an NBA prospect, his relationship with basketball in India, and going to his High School prom.

Born in the tiny Ballo Ke village in Punjab, Bhamara was scouted at age 14 (2010) by IMG Reliance and handed a scholarship to play at the IMG Basketball Academy in Florida, USA, where he has been for the past five years. Last month, Bhamara bypassed college to declare for the 2015 NBA Draft, as he hopes to become the first Indian citizen to play in the NBA. Bhamara has represented India at the international level several times over the past few years already and has been playing for the IMG team at the High School level in America. He is currently preparing for the draft with pre-draft workouts and visits to scouts at various interested NBA teams.



Hoopdarshan aims to be the true voice of Indian basketball, and since we're such hopeless fans of the game, it will become the voice of everything basketball related we love, from the NBA to international hoops, too. On every episode of Hoopdarshan, we will be inviting a special guest to interview or chat to about a variety of topics. With expert insight from some of the brightest and most-involved people in the world of Indian basketball, we hope to bring this conversation to a many more interested fans, players, and followers of the game.

Make sure to follow Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud or search for 'Hoopdarshan' on the iTunes Store! Auto-sync Hoopdarshan to your preferred podcast app NOW!

Hoopdarshan can be found on...

• - iTunes: Hoopdarshan
  
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• - On Twitter: @Hoopdarshan
  
• - Facebook.com/Hoopdarshan
  

Federation Games

The best way to solve Basketball Federation of India’s power struggle? A game of basketball, of course!

This article was first published in my column for Ekalavyas on April 9, 2015. Click here to read the original post.

Ms Poonam Mahajan (left) and Mr Govindraj are the two nominated Presidents
in each of the rival factions. Photo Courtesy: Ekalavyas

The stage was set for a showdown when two opposing factions of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) called two separate Annual General Meetings (AGM) in two different cities on two different days. The purpose of both these meetings was to select a new executive committee – including a new BFI president – for the federation that governs all things India Basketball. And that is exactly what happened. In Bangalore on March 27, in a meeting led by former president KS Gill, the Karnataka State Basketball Association’s secretary K Govindraj was elected president; in Pune on March 28, in a meeting organized by BFI CEO Roopam Sharma, the chosen president was Poonam Mahajan.

Two meetings. Two presidents. Two executive committees. One federation. With neither side willing to back down, it has become clear that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will have to step in to resolve the issue. A legal battle in court might be the next chapter in this ugly drama.

But what if the problem was resolved on a different kind of court? After all, ‘Team Roopam’ and ‘Team Govindraj’ are each fighting for the throne to lead Indian basketball. Somewhere along this political fight, basketball itself seems to have been ignored. Maybe the best way to solve the Basketball Federation of India’s power struggle is just a game of basketball.

Introducing… The Basketball Game for Basketball, where the competing factions of the BFI play step out on the basketball court for one 40 minute contest to decide it all.

This is a (mostly) a work of fiction.

Setting

Three years ago, the BFI dedicated the Mastan YMCA basketball courts in Mumbai to the memory of former Secretary-General and CEO Harish Sharma. Sharma was the leader of the BFI and the CEO position had been created specifically to keep him in a position of power. Other positions like Secretary-General, President, Treasurer, and the rest of the Executive Committee have to be elected on the basis of a vote at the AGM. There is a time limit of how many years any one individual can keep hold of a senior committee position. After Sharma’s death in 2012, his wife Roopam Sharma was made CEO (instead of the position being abolished) and the divide within the BFI grew wider: some supported her, others didn’t. Of course, this means that he newly named Harish Sharma Basketball Courts in Mastan, Mumbai should play host to The Basketball Game for Basketball.

Team Govindraj

Starting 5: K Govindraj (President), Teja Singh Dhaliwal (Senior Vice-President), RS Gill (former President), Chander Mukhi Sharma (Secretary-General), V Raghothaman (Tresurer).

Bench: Ajay Sud, D.R. Saini, Shafiq Shaikh, Bhupendra Shahi, L. Suren (Vice-Presidents), Shakthi Singh Gohil (Associate Secretary), Norman Isaac (Executive Committee Member).

Team Roopam

Starting 5: Poonam Mahajan (President), Roopam Sharma (Secretary-General), Mukut Medhi (Treasurer), RS Chahal (Senior Vice President), Prempal Singh (Associate Secretary).

Bench: Nandini Bassapa, Ashok Kumar Sahu, Rajesh Patel, Ajeet Singh Rathore, Dalbir Singh Kharab, Vinod Vachani (Vice Presidents), Ashok Rangeen (Associate Secretary).

First off, Team Roopam must be praised for diversifying the gender field and featuring two women in the starting lineup (Mahajan and Sharma) and one off the bench (Bassapa). They also have youth on their side, kind of: 34-year-old Mahajan is the youngest president of any Indian sports federation. Both teams have some great Indian coaches and former players but Team Govindraj may be a little more athletic (I’m using the word ‘athletic’ in its broadest definition possible).

Team Roopam may have some home court advantage, specifically because of Mahajan’s Mumbai connection (she is the BJP national secretary and MP from the Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha constituency) and because of the Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA) support that Mahajan brings as the first women president of the MSBA. Mahajan has a lot of political clout and had a powerful father Pramod Mahajan, whose one-time aide was none other than the late Harish Sharma, Roopam’s husband. By extension, the overall political advantage goes to the president-secretary general combination of Mahajan and Roopam Sharma.

Team Govindraj may have the legal advantage, however. As per BFI’s constitution and the India’s Ministry of Sports code, only the president of a federation can call an AGM, and thus, the meeting in Bengaluru – held under the guidance of departing president RS Gill – was technically the only ‘legal’ one. Team Govindraj also scored a major win when FIBA – the international body that runs basketball around the world – recognised them as the rightful office-bearers of the BFI.

Tip-off!

Usually, the illustrious names that have been mentioned above do their best at every major Indian sports event to find the most comfortable sofa seats courtside, sip in the finest local chai, and make sure that there is an extra timeout called in every top game so that they can be introduced midcourt to the diligently lined-up players. But this time, it will be the VIPs taking the court while our top players sit on the bleachers and watch. Unhappily.

With more aggressive intent to their side, Team Roopam try to control the pace of the game, running and gunning from the get go and trying to put as many points on the board early in the first quarter. There are a lot of turnovers, bad passes, and individuals attempting to play one-on-one hero-ball, but due to the sheer number of their attempts and their opposition’s slow start, Team Roopam are able to take a double digit early lead.

But as the game moves along, Team Govindraj grind the pace down to their comfort level and defend hard in the post. The game takes an even uglier twist as neither side is able to make their field goals anymore. There are a lot of stoppages, and with the help of the free-throw line, Team Govindraj crawl back to tie the game by halftime.

‘Fans’

The score-keepers seated on the side are representatives from the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) and judges from the Delhi High Court. Despite their best efforts, they have a difficult time keeping track of the awry field goal percentages from both sides.

Meanwhile, representatives from IMG Worldwide and Reliance Industries – the partnership of the two powerful companies that brought sponsorship rights to the BFI five years ago –watch and judge the game from the sidelines, scouting for the finest prospects to work with to help develop the game in India in the future. IMG-Reliance have been hoping to help the BFI launch India’s first professional basketball league, a process that seems to have been suspended consistently over the past few years. Other sponsors are present too, watching the tamasha, as are representatives from the NBA and NBA India, who have vested interest in the long-term development of the sport after these intriguing Federation Games.

The camera pans from the sponsors and CEOs to the other end, where India’s best players and coaches – the individuals who should actually be the stars of the Indian basketball story – are seated. About 10 months ago, Coach Scott Flemming and his team’s top players like Amrit Pal Singh, Amjyot Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, and more helped India get a historic first win over China at the FIBA Asia Cup. Two years ago, India’s Women’s team – represented here by Coach Francisco Garcia, legendary player Geethu Anna Jose, Anitha Paul Durai, Jeena PS and others – helped India finish at their best-ever fifth place at the FIBA Asia Championship for Women. Jose was even conferred an Arjuna Award  this year.

(None of these accolades are mentioned of course because Indian basketball achievements weren’t the top priority at this basketball game).

Hundreds of more children, all of whom are basketball enthusiasts hoping to become stars for India and abroad, sit terror-stricken on bleachers around the stadium. Many concerned coaches reach over to them and cover their eyes to save them from the horrors ahead.

Second Half

Both teams start the second half with their more experienced players. For Team Roopam, coaches like Chhattisgarh’s Rajesh Patel, India’s junior coach Vinod Vachani, and Delhi’s Ashok Rangeen pit their collective strategies together to get some easy baskets for their team. For Team Govindraj, president Govindraj himself shows some moves from his playing days for Karnataka, while L. Suren rises off the bench to provide some defensive stops. Unfortunately, Team Roopam’s marquee player – president Poonam Mahajan – is confounded by the game that she is supposed to be presiding.

As the audience is subjected to a fourth quarter that no one wishes to watch, the game turns contentious, with the referees’ whistles threatening to steal the spotlight. An outlandish number of calls start going Team Roopam’s way, who opponents complain are winning the advantage due to political threats and blackmail. Team Roopam are unable to take advantage of the opportunity, however. The FIBA Commissioners presiding over this game – who have recently recognized Team Govindraj as the rightful office-bearers of the BFI – neutralize the refereeing scandal with imbalanced overseeing from their end.

By the final whistle, neither team has put up a particularly impressive score, all the players on court have picked up flagrant and technical fouls, and none of the fans are having a good time.

Final Whistle

Nobody is sure who won the game, but everyone knows that basketball lost.

15 for 15: New Year’s resolutions for Indian Basketball in 2015

This article was first published in my column for Ekalavyas on January 7, 2015. Click here to read the original post. 

Teams gather for the 65th Senior National Basketball
Championship 2014-15 in Bhilwara, Rajasthan.

By tradition, India’s senior national basketball championship – or the ‘Senior Nationals’ – are held in the transition period between one calendar year and another. Although there have been exceptions on the schedule every now and then, for most of India’s finest hoop players, the New Year’s celebrations have been held in preparation or during intense basketball competition.

This seems fitting: if you’re Indian and you worship the great gospel of basketball, then the Senior Nationals are clearly the most important domestic event on your annual calendar. For India’s top basketball players, coaches, referees, managers, and fans, the start of every New Year is a chance to get together and reflect on what matters to them the most.

The turning of the calendar from the old to the new is also a time for resolutions; for us to make promises to ourselves, set goals, and use the opportunity of a fresh slate to take a fresh approach towards betterment. With the 65^th Senior National Basketball Championship (in Bhilwara, Rajasthan) concluding earlier this week, it’s a good time for the Indian basketball fraternity to make some resolutions, too.

What should be the milestones for our top players, teams, and stakeholders of the game? Here are 15 New Year’s resolutions for Indian basketball in 2015:

1. Parents support at basketball events. The irony for many young players with basketball aspirations in India is that the biggest roadblock in the realization of their dreams isn’t always talent or opportunity: its family. Traditionally, Indian parents have been hesitant to let their children chase a career in sports (or creative arts). In recent years, however, the trends have been improving, and more parents are showing support for kids with ‘alternative’ career prospects. The support has to begin at a young age, and I hope that more Indian parents appear in the audience at basketball events organized by the BFI/IMG Reliance (like the Indian School/College Basketball Leagues) and the NBA (like the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA programme) to give the youngsters the encouragement they need. It’s these kids who will eventually become the future basketball stars of India.

2. India’s best players get offers to play professionally abroad. The only Indian players to play for professional clubs abroad have been Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Paul Durai. But there is a lot more potential in India, and it’s only a matter of the right kind of exposure to provide opportunities to our young and rising stars. Players like Amrit Pal Singh or Amjyot Singh are top talents and could definitely benefit other professional leagues in Southeast Asia, Australia, the Middle East, or even Europe.

3. More Geethu Anna Jose, please! She’s now a proud winner of the Arjuna Award and probably the greatest basketball player India has produced for the last few decades. But Jose has taken a semi-hiatus from basketball. Even though she may not be the dominant force she was until a few years ago, I believe that the 29-year-old still has a lot to contribute to Indian basketball and can carry our national team and Railways to greater heights.

4. Satnam Singh Bhamara plays NCAA basketball. Bhamara exploded on to the scene as a talented 7-footed teenager, completing an incredible journey that started in a tiny Punjabi village and took him to the IMG Basketball Academy in Florida. Bhamara is reaching the end of his tenure at IMG, and the possibility of NCAA basketball might beckon in the future. If he makes it to Division 1, he could be the first Indian national to do so.

5. NBA Jam and Reliance Foundation expand to more cities. It was a marquee year for NBA India, as both the NBA Jam and the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA programme expanded to more Indian cities, reaching more young players than ever before. NBA India’s Senior Director Basketball Operations Carlos Barroca told me that the NBA has big plans for future expansion: hopefully, they can take their coaches to train Indian coaches and players in more cities than ever.

6. India’s Men’s NT repeat FIBA Asia Cup wonders at Wuhan again, at the FIBA Asia Championship. India performed a Wonder at Wuhan in July, defeating Asia’s top side China for the first time, and did so on their home soil. In September 2015, Asia’s best teams will head to Wuhan again for a bigger tournament: the 28^th FIBA Asia Championship (ABC). India’s performances at the FIBA Asia Cup were great, but a repeat of that performance at the ABC will raise pride for Indian basketball more than ever before back home and give another grave warning to India’s other continental rivals.

7. India’s Women shock the ‘Big Four’ at FIBA Asia Championship for Women. FIBA Asia Women tournaments are a ‘quad-poly’ between four top teams: China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, and Korea. These four teams, in some order, always finish in the top four at the Women’s FIBA ABC events. In 2013, India won a ‘Level 1’ FIBA ABC game for the first time (against Kazakhstan) and finished fifth, their highest ever rank in the tournament. This year, I hope we dare to dream bigger and manage to defeat one of the top four, thus getting a chance to enter the semi-final stage for the first time in history.

8. New male/female stars rise at the U16 FIBA Asia Championships. 2015 is also the calendar year for the next U16 FIBA Asia Championships for both boys and girls. This tournament will be the first major international championship for India’s finest youth players, and it will be the first chance to learn of new names that will one day become mainstays at our senior level. If India is going to find the big breakthrough superstar that makes the NBA or WNBA level one day, we could get the first glance of that star at one of these tournaments.

9. The NBA sends a superstar to visit India this summer. As India grows as a market for the NBA, visits from NBA or WNBA’s current or former players have become a common occurrence in recent years. The NBA usually sends retired legends during the season and uses the offseason as an opportunity to send a rising talent (like Isaiah Thomas in 2014) or an All Star (like Chris Bosh in 2013). Here’s hoping that the summer of 2015 brings a super-duper star (of the Durant-LeBron-Kobe calibre) to the country.

10. Indian basketball games make it to national/cable TV more often. DD Sports – when they have nothing better to show – will dabble with broadcasting Indian domestic tournaments or occasional international games. But in 2013, when Neo Prime broadcast the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, it was the first time that an Indian basketball game – domestic or international – was shown on cable TV in India. Ten Sports/Action broadcast the 2014 Asian Games basketball tournament, too. The move to cable brings more professionalism and better production value to the games, and thus are more eye-catching to both casual and serious fans. Hopefully, the 2015 FIBA Asia Championships (for both men and women) are picked up by cable channels so that a wider audience will be able to catch India’s top players in action. It’ll be a bonus if the domestic national tournaments make the jump to cable, too.

11. Local fans flock to watch national tournaments around the country. No matter how much the organization off the floor and the talent on the floor improve at national basketball tournaments in India, one thing that has stayed unfortunately constant has been the general apathy of local fans. At most national tournaments, the fans in the stands (until the final stages, at least) comprise usually of players from other teams at the event. At the Senior Nationals in Bhilwara, there were sizeable crowds for the outdoor court matches and during the semifinals and finals. Hopefully, the momentum can carry on to the other nationals for the rest of the year, too.

12. Basketball associations in various states sort out their troubles. 2014 was a year when basketball associations in various Indian states – like Maharashtra, Goa, andJammu and Kashmir – struggled with internal issues, which in turn affected the growth and potential of the rising talents in those states. Hopefully these states – and others particularly in the North-East of India who haven’t earned BFI affiliation – can smoothen their internal differences and find a way to showcase their best at the national tournaments in 2015.

13. Improve the infrastructure, bring FIBA and NBA over. India has a few decent basketball arenas and has been a host to a FIBA Asia Women’s tournament in the past, but we still have a long way to go to match the stadiums in some of the other Asian countries. I hope that various cities around the country shift their attention on helping the growth of sport and invest on building bigger and better arenas. Out in Sacramento, Vivek Ranadive, the Indian-born owner of the Kings, has long-professed his desire to bring his team to India for an exhibition game, but NBA-level infrastructure has been the major speed-bump in his plans. With better infrastructure, it is more likely for FIBA to choose India for a major tournament again and for the NBA to hold India’s first-ever exhibition game soon.

14. More international exposure games for National teams. A common complaint by India’s national team coaches Scott Flemming and Francisco Garcia in recent years has been that our squads are being sent to Asia’s top tournaments untested and completely unprepared. Unlike other countries, India keeps missing the opportunity to take part in ‘friendly’ games or smaller tournaments before the big FIBA Asia Championships. These games give a chance to the coaches to figure out their systems, test their lineups, and help improve team chemistry. Hopefully, before the 2015 FIBA Asia Championships, the BFI are able to secure international practice games for both men and women to help them raise their experience and comfort-level before the bigger challenges ahead.

15. Launch an Indian professional basketball league. I’ve argued in great detail before about how a professional basketball league could revolutionize hoops in India. The trickle-down effect of the league will benefit our players, coaches, referees, and fans, and would eventually help India’s national team performances. Since their relationship IMG Reliance began, the Basketball Federation of India have been discussing and doing the groundwork for the launch of this league for several years, but so far, none of the theoretical thoughts have produced practical results. IMG were instrumental in launching football’s ISL’s in 2014, and hopefully the success of that league will help create a blueprint for an Indian basketball league to finally be launched in 2015.

Uttarakhand (Men) and Chattisgarh (Women) are India's 2015 national basketball champions at Bhilwara

For eight days, the best of Indian basketball was at Bhilwara (Rajasthan), welcoming the new year with the nation's biggest domestic hoops competition. The city played host to the 65th National Basketball Championship for Men and Women from December 29 - January 5. And after a combined 51 teams in the Men's and Women's sections displayed the top basketball talent in India from across the various states, units, and territories, two champions stood atop the podium at the very end. In the Women's section, Chhattisgarh repeated after last year's surprise win to once again win the gold. In the Men's tournament, 2013 champions Uttarakhand bounced back to reclaim their place at the top.

Organised by the Bhilwara District Basketball Association in collaboration with the Rajasthan State Basketball Association under the aegis of Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and IMG-Reliance, the 'Senior Nationals' tipped off last week with some of India's top players looking to make a mark and bring home a trophy for their squads. After eight days of mesmerizing action, the tournament came to an end with the Men's and Women's finals at Bhilwara on Monday, January 6th.

A year after shocking Indian Railways in the final to win the 64th National Championship, Chhattisgarh found themselves in the Women's finale again, once more after defeating Railways at an earlier stage. Their opponent this time around were the experienced Delhi team, who returned to the final after a three-year gap. While Delhi were competitive earlier in the game, Chhattisgarh superstar Poonam Chaturvedi - India's tallest Women's basketball player at 6-foot-9 - continued her dominant run at the tournament with one of her finest individual performances. Chaturvedi let loose for 48 points to go with 12 rebounds for Chhattisgarh, helping her side blow out Delhi in the third quarter and hold on to their lead for a 84-75 win. Delhi lost the services of former Indian captain Prashanti Singh to injury earlier in the game. Sharanjeet Kaur added 18 for Chhattisgarh in the victory.

Chaturvedi was named the tournament's MVP after averaging around 30 points per game and rounded up her second national title in two years. This feat is even more amazing considering that she was diagnosed with brain tumour last year and battled back to regain her spot as one of the finest players in the country again. Another incredible fact? She is still just 19!

The Men's final pitted the winners of the last two years - Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand - against each other for an exciting battle of supremacy. The game also pitted two of India's finest big men and national team frontcourt teammates Amrit Pal Singh (Uttarakhand) and Amjyot Singh (TN) against each other, albeit Amjyot didn't play until the second half due to an ankle injury. It was the 2013 champs Uttarakhand who got off to a hot start, leading by 10 at the end of the first quarter and maintaining a double digit lead at halftime. With the help of Amjyot, TN attempted a second half comeback, but it wasn't enough as Uttarakhand held on to finish the game with a 72-63 win and the national title. Amrit Pal continued his fine form in the final, leading all scorers with 27 points and 14 rebounds. His teammate Yadwinder Singh added 16 to help Uttarakhand finish with a flourish.

Amrit Pal Singh was handed the MVP award in the Men's division.

Indian Railways Women had to settle for the bronze medal this year after a closely-fought 81-76 victory over Kerala in the Third/Fourth place matchup. Led by Smruthi Radhakrishnan (16) Railways were challenged till the very end by a talented young Kerala squad, which featured the likes of Poojamol KS (18) and Neenumol PS (16) leading the way. In the Men's bronze-medal game, India's national team starters Joginder Singh (22) and Narender Grewal (21) led the way to defeat the surprise team from Haryana, 87-70. After a wonderful run in the tournament, Haryana had to settle for fourth place, but not before their top scorers Deepak Rathee (23), Himanshu S (20), and Hemant S (20) gave Services a true run for their money.

The winning teams received Rs. 1.5 lakhs each, runners-up received Rs. 1 lakh each, and third-place received Rs 50,000 each.

At the semi-final stage a day earlier, Indian Railways Women had an opportunity to avenge last year's semi-final loss to Chhattisgarh. Despite a valiant effort by Railways' R Rajapriyadarshini (35 points, 16 rebounds), Railways came up short at the end of another classic encounter between the two sides. Behind Poonam Chaturvedi efforts (27 points, 13 rebounds), Chhattisgarh raced to a 12-point lead at halftime. But Rajapriyadarshini and Anju Lakra (20) led Railways all the way back in the third and fourth periods to a small lead. Unfortunately for them, Railways weren't able to hold on, and Chhattisgarh used a last valiant push to run past them for a 83-79 win. Sharanjeet Kaur aided Chaturvedi's monster night with 16 points in the win. Meanwhile, Delhi Women relied on the services of Pratima Singh (17) to break lose from a low-scoring start en route to a 71-63 win over Kerala. Jeena PS led Kerala with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.

In the first Men's semi-final, Uttarakhand ended Haryana's Cinderella run in style, using their experience and deep pool of talent to post a 86-64 win. Veteran international star Vishesh Bhriguvanshi led with 26 points and 10 rebounds for Uttarakhand while his international teammate Amrit Pal Singh added 16 and 13. Former international player Riyazuddin added 18 for Uttarakhand in the victory. Haryana's leading scorer was Himanshu S (19). In the second Men's final final, Amjyot Singh was in his finest form for TN, lighting up the night with 29 points and 13 rebounds in the 86-73 win for his side over Services. TN's A Aravind also added 22. For Services, Narender Grewal left it all on the line with 29 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

A day before the launch of the championship, the BFI celebrated 'Indian Basketball Day' in honour of late CEO Harish Sharma. On this day, the best players in the country took part in Men and Women's All Star games and a Slam Dunk contest. Cultural performances, prize distribution, and a remembrance ceremony for Sharma was also held.

Final Scores

• Women: Chhattisgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 48, Sharanjeet Kaur 18) bt Delhi (Madhu Kumari 15, Pratima Singh 15, Akanksha Singh 13) 84-75 (19-22, 21-16, 26-11, 18-26).
  
• Men: Uttarakhand (Amritpal Singh 27 pts, Yadwinder Singh 16, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 13) bt Tamil Nadu (Pratham Singh 15) 72-63 (22-12, 17-16, 10-15, 23-20).
  

Third/Fourth Place Matchups

• Women: Indian Railway (Smruthi Radhakrishnan 16, Sitamani Tudu 14, R Rajapriyadarshini 14) bt Kerala (Poojamol KS 18, Neenumol PS 16, Jeena PS 14) 81-76 (23-18, 11-13, 19-18, 28-27).
  
• Men: Services (Joginder Singh 22, Narender Grewal 21, Abhishek YP 15) bt Haryana (Deepak Rathee 23, Himanshu S 20, Hemant S 20) 87-70 (19-15, 28-24, 9-19, 31-12).
  

Final Standings

Women

• 1. Chhattisgarh
  
• 2. Delhi
  
• 3. Indian Railways
  
• 4. Kerala
  
• 5. Maharashtra
  
• 6. Tamil Nadu
  
• 7. Karnataka
  
• 8. Telangana
  
• 9. Madhya Pradesh
  
• 10. Punjab
  

Men

• 1. Uttarakhand
  
• 2. Tamil Nadu
  
• 3. Services
  
• 4. Haryana
  
• 5. Karnataka
  
• 6. Kerala
  
• 7. Indian Railways
  
• 8. Punjab
  
• 9. Delhi
  
• 10. Telangana
  

2014: The Year in Indian Basketball

Flip the calendars and adjust your dates. It's now 2015, and so much has changed in Indian Basketball in the past 12 months. Peaking with India's memorable victory against China mid-way through 2014 as well as other positive international performances, you could say that it was the year that basketball in the country truly began to grow up. Domestically, Indian basketball players were involved in bigger and better BFI, NBA, and Reliance Foundation events, events that reached to farther corners of the nation than ever before.

Let's look back at some of the biggest news stories from 2014 in Indian Basketball.

- In January over in Ahmedabad, ONGC repeated as Federation Cup champions with a big win over rivals IOB in the final, while Chhattisgarh's Women's side closed out the tournament in thrilling fashion with a one-point win over Maharashtra. Chhattisgarh's Radhakrishnan and ONGC's Vishesh Bhriguvanshi were named tournament MVPs.

- Just a few days later, Kolkata's outfit Eastern Railway capitalized their unexpected run with a final victory over Assumption College (Changanacherry) to win the 5th JCI All India Invitational Basketball Tournament, held in Athirampuzha in Kottayam district, Kerala. In the Men's Final that followed, Bangalore's outfit Vijaya Bank blew out Customs (Chennai) for a resounding victory.

- ONGC were back atop the podium the next week, defeating IOB once again in Mumbai to win the 9th Savio Cup in Mumbai. Although they started as favourites to hold on to their title, Southern Railway had to battle till the very end and use every bit of their talent and experience to outlast the spirited hosts Maharashtra in the Women's final.

- Goa played host to the 2014 Lusofonia Games, and Indian Basketball Men's team gave the home fans a real reason to celebrate. Under Head Coach Scott Flemming, India defeated Angola in thrilling fashion to win gold at the Games' basketball tournament. They were undefeated through the course of the tournament. India's Women's team - comprising mostly of under-21 players - finished with a bronze medal. Mozambique won Women's gold.

- Former NBA point guard Muggsy Bogues returned to India for his second trip in the first week of February. Bogues took part to assist the first season of the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA programme in the country: he visited Mumbai and Kochi to train the hundreds of players and coaches involved in the events.

- February also offered some sobering news as basketball was de-registered as a sport in Jammu and Kashmir by the Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council (JKSSC), ending all funding for the sport in the state.

- The 64th National Basketball Championship for Men and Women was delayed in 2014 and finally tipped off near the end of February in New Delhi. The delay wasn't the only anomaly: Chhattisgarh's Women ended a 10-year dominating run by Indian Railways at the Senior Nationals by defeating the pre-tournament favourites in the finals to snatch the winner's trophy. Meanwhile in the Men's section, Tamil Nadu's played some brilliant basketball through the course of the tournament and defeated Punjab to secure gold. Tamil Nadu's Rikin Pethani and Chhattisgarh's Kavita Kumari were given the Harish Sharma Most Valuable Player trophies at the end of the tournament, an award named in honour of the BFI's former CEO who passed away two years ago. Former NBA Head Coach Del Harris was a special guest at the nationals and held a 'Train the Trainers' clinic for attending and local coaches and players.

- In mid-April, ONGC (Men) and Southern Railway (Women) defended their titles at 2014 Advani Memorial Basketball Tournament in Jaipur (Rajasthan). Southern Railway's Kokila Subramani (Women) and ONGC's Amrit Pal Singh (Men) were named MVPs.

- After six months of action in eight cities, the finals of the 1st BFI-IMG Reliance National School/College League were held over five days in early May in New Delhi. Teams from Ludhiana and Chennai made their home cities proud with championship medals.

- In mid-May, India's Men's National Team took care of business at the 3rd South Asian Basketball Championship in Kathmandu (Nepal) dismantling four South Asian winners in efficient victories and qualifying for the 5th FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan (China).

Photo courtesy: Ekalavyas

- The 64th Junior National Basketball Championship for Under-18 Boys and Girls - held at Kochi (Kerala) from May 26th to June 2nd - came down to a double rematch in both the divisions from last year's Finals. Chhattisgarh defended the girls' title with a second consecutive Final victory over hosts Kerala. Punjab's Boys redeemed themselves after last year's loss in Cuttack to snatch the title over Delhi with a win in the Boys' finale. Punjab's Arshpreet Singh (Boys) and Chhattisgarh's Sharanjeet Kaur (Girls) were named MVPs.

- NBA point guard Isaiah Thomas - who was with the Sacramento Kings until the summer and is now with the Phoenix Suns - visited India in June 2014. Thomas spent time in Mumbai and Chennai, where he visited schools, community organizations, and conducted youth clinics. He also joined the NBA's official broadcaster in India Sony SIX to provide analysis of the NBA Finals.

- Three Indian players - Vishal Gupta (Andhra Pradesh), Ashish Briggs (Madhya Pradesh), and Mahipal Singh (Rajasthan) - were invited to NBA/FIBA's Basketball Without Borders camp in Taipei from June 13-16. There were among 50 of the top young players from Asia and Oceania at the camp.

- By defeating Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on consecutive nights in July at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru, India's U18 men's squad won gold at the South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Qualifiers for the 23rd U18 FIBA Asia Championship. They qualified to represent South Asia at the U18 FIBA Asia tournament in Doha (Qatar).

- The highlight of 2014 - and really, one of the All Time highlights in Indian basketball history - was India's campaign at the 5th FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan. In their second game of the tournament India defeated hosts and Asia's top squad China on their home soil, 65-58, in the 'Wonder of Wuhan'. India gave a scare to the continent's other top teams, and despite the Quarter-Final exit and just a seventh place finish, Flemming's team displayed performances on court that are sure to earn them respect in major Asian tournaments in the future. Iran eventually recaptured gold the gold by defeating Chinese Taipei in the final. The tournament was also notable for the flare-up of the nasty FIBA Headgear controversy, hurting India's Sikh star players Amjyot Singh and Amrit Pal Singh.

- Back home, former Portuguese basketball coach, general manager, television analyst, and ambassador Carlos Barroca was chosen to replace Troy Justice as the Senior Director of Basketball Operations for NBA India.

- India's junior boys' squad disappointed at the 23rd FIBA Asia U18 Championship in Doha (Qatar), finishing 13th (last), losing two of their three Preliminary Round games and failing to qualify for the next stage of the tournament. China played fantastic basketball through the course of the 10-day tournament and made this their 11th gold overall in the tournament. The FIBA Headgear controversy returned, as India's Anmol Singh was forced to remove his turban in the first game against Qatar.

- In mid-August, NBA India launched the biggest ever iteration of the NBA Jam, the hugely popular college basketball and youth festival, spreading out to 16 cities and involving a greater number of young Indian basketball fanatics than ever before.

- On August 29, Indian basketball superstar Geethu Anna Jose added another feather to her cap by being officially conferred the Arjuna Award - prestigious national award handed to sports-persons in India by the Government of India - by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Jose became the 17th basketball player in India to receive this award, but only the first since 2001. She was also only the second women basketball player to win the Arjuna Award since Suman Sharma in 1991.

- With the expectation to engage over 750,000 youth basketball players and train PE teachers at more than 1,000 partner schools across India, the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA programme returned with a bang for it's second year in early September, expanding from three Indian cities to eight. The programme focus was on inspiring youth to adopt a healthy, active lifestyle by integrating basketball into each participating school’s physical education curriculum.

- There was massive expansion elsewhere, too. By the end of September, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and IMG Reliance announced the new seasons of the Indian School Basketball League (ISBL) and the Indian College Basketball League (ICBL), to be held in 22 and 21 Indian cities respectively. Over 1100 institutions and 13,000 combined school or college students - both men and women - were set to participate in the ISBL and ICBL in 24 total cities.

- India's Senior Men's and Women's National teams played at the basketball tournaments at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon (South Korea). Topsy-turvy performances by India saw some positive moments but also left a lot to be desired. India's Men finished 12th (out of 16) and Women finished 6th (out of 11). South Korea defended their home turf in style, as both their Men and Women's squads outperformed higher-ranked squads to secure the gold medal.

- In mid-October, at the 31st Youth (U16) National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls in Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu defeated Kerala in both the boys' and girls' finals to win double gold medals. TN's star performers through the course of the tournament - Eshwar PB (Boys) and Ishwarya J (Girls) - were named MVPs.

- With a victory over rivals Japan in the final, the Chinese eves completed a three-peat of titles at the FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Women in Amman (Jordan) on Friday, October 17th. This was China's 14th overall title in the 22nd edition of the tournament as they continued to be the driving force in junior Asian women's basketball. India, who played in the tougher Level I of the tournament, lost all their preliminary group games but won the crucial Level I qualifier against Malaysia to remain in the higher fray of the competition for 2016.

- From October 15-19, the city of Bengaluru hosted the inaugural Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball tournament, a men's championship that featured six of India's top club level or state teams. After five days of high-notch basketball, the tournament was settled with a comfortable final win by Indian Overseas Bank - IOB - against their Chennai city rivals ONGC.

- Three-time former NBA champion Bruce Bowen visited India to take part in NBA Jam and Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA events at Kolkata, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, and Ludhiana in early November.

- India's senior men and women took part in the 2014 Asian Beach Games 3x3 Basketball tournament in Phuket (Thailand). After an undefeated run, India's Men were finally defeated in the final by Qatar and had to settle for the silver medal. India's Women - reigning champs from 2012 - could not repeat their success after choosing to send a far less experienced team to Phuket. India lost all three of their games to finish at seventh place.

- Madhya Pradesh (Boys) and Kerala (Girls) lifted the winner's trophies at 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls in Nashik (Maharashtra), with both teams defeating Chhattisgarh in the final. The MVP awards were handed to Kerala's Sreekala R (Girls) and MP's Mani Thakur (MP).

- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver closed his first year as the head-honcho of the league with his first-ever visit to India, and he brought along Kings' Indian-born owner Vivek Ranadive and former Kings/Lakers player Vlade Divac. Silver, Ranadive, and Divac spent their time in Mumbai, visiting a school as part of the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA programme and interacting with the Indian press.

- 2014 NBA Jam National Finals conclude in Pune on December 7. Punjab Warriors (Boys) and Pune Ballers (Girls) were crowned the national champions.

- Towards the end of December, New Delhi hosted the national finals of the Indian School Basketball League (ISBL) and Indian College Basketball League (ICBL), featuring the winning 40 school and college teams in the men's and women's divisions from 10 cities. After seven days of exciting hoops action, the representatives of two cities - Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Ludhiana (Punjab) - separated themselves from the rest of the pack to win their respective 2014 titles.

- On the eve of the launch of the 65th Senior National Championship in Bhilwara (Rajasthan), the BFI named December 28th as the official 'Indian Basketball Day', in honour of the late former BFI CEO Harish Sharma on his birthday. On this day, the best players in the country took part in Men and Women's All Star games and a Slam Dunk contest. Cultural performances, prize distribution, and a remembrance ceremony for Sharma was also held.

It was indeed a year to remember, and India can take heed in successes at the Lusofonia Games, the FIBA Asia Cup, and the Asian Beach Games internationally. Back home, the involvement of new cities in grassroots programmes will play a big role in the future development of basketball talent. The interest shown from FIBA and the NBA, as well as the continuing growth of the BFI, promise bigger things ahead for 2015.

65th Senior National Basketball Championship tips off in Rajasthan with Indian All Star Game

It may be the 'Holiday Season' for most of the world, but for the top talents of Indian basketball, the most serious time of the year has begun. At Bhilwara in Rajasthan, 51 combined Men and Women's teams from across the country have assembled to take part in the biggest event in the nation's domestic hoops calendar: the Senior Nationals. The 65th Senior National Basketball Championship for Men and Women tipped off in Bhilwara on Monday, December 29th. The championship is being organised by the Bhilwara District Basketball Association in collaboration with the Rajasthan State Basketball Association under the aegis of Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and IMG-Reliance.

A day before the launch of the championship, the BFI celebrated 'Indian Basketball Day' in honour of late CEO Harish Sharma. On this day, the best players in the country took part in Men and Women's All Star games and a Slam Dunk contest. Cultural performances, prize distribution, and a remembrance ceremony for Sharma was also held.

27 men’s teams and 24 women’s teams are participating in this event that will be played in a league-cum-knockout format. The last iteration of the tournament was held in March 2014 at New Delhi and won by Tamil Nadu (Men) and Chhattisgarh (Women).

On the first day of the tournament, Kerala's Women started off with a dominant victory over Andhra Pradesh 78-39, as two Suryas from each side battled against each other. Kerala were led by Surya PR, who scored 19 points, while Jeena PS added 17. For AP, A Surya scored 23 in the loss. In another dominant showcase of talent, Tamil Nadu's women doubled the output of Uttar Pradesh to blow them out 72-36. Sunita led all scorers on the game with 20.

In an early Men's game, Indian Railways took a 10 point lead over Chhattisgarh in the first quarter, and held on to their advantage till the very end en route to a 76-66 win. M. Mishra (25) and H. Singh (16) were leading scorers for Railways, while AP Singh (20) and Kiranpal S (18) were the high scorers in a losing effort for Chhattisgarh.

The Indian basketball fraternity celebrated 'Indian Basketball Day' on Sunday, December 28th in honour of the late Harish Sharma's birthday. Senior BFI officials such as RS Gill, Ajay Sud, Nandini Basappa, K Govindraj, PJ Sunny and Naresh Aneja (FIBA Commissioner) spoke on the occasion and recalled Sharma’s contribution to the sport. Sharma had been instrumental in inking the long term contract with IMG-Reliance in 2010 that has led to a drastic improvement in facilities for the players, coaches and others involved in the sport.

As part of the ‘Indian Basketball Day’ festivities, two exhibition All Star matches were played that featured the top men and women players in the country. A Slam Dunk contest was also held for the high-fliers in the men’s division which was won by Amjyot Singh from Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Tamil Nadu. Amjyot, of course, is famous for another dunk earlier this year against China that capped off India's historic win over China at the FIBA Asia Cup.

India's Senior national men's 3x3 team, comprising of Pratham Singh, Yadwinder Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Amrit Pal Singh, were felicitated for their silver-medal winning effort at the Asian Beach Games in Phuket earlier this year.

Selected Scores

Women

• Kerala (Surya PR 19, Jeena PS 17) bt Andhra Pradesh (A Surya 23) 78-39 (27-6, 18-9, 11-14, 22-10).
  
• Tamil Nadu (Sunita 20, Ramya 15) bt Uttar Pradesh (R Gour 13) 72-36 (17-4, 16-12, 23-16, 16-4).
  

Men

• Indian Railways (M Mishra 25, H Singh 16) bt Chhattisgarh (AP Singh 20, Kiranpal S 18, KS Kumar 15) 76-66 (25-15, 17-20, 16-17, 18-14).
  

2014 Indian School/College Basketball League National Finals begin in New Delhi

Whatever your city, your school, your college, or your favourite player, there is sure to be enough drama for the basketball fan in New Delhi over the next week. It took three months of action in 24 cities, bringing together over 13,000 players from over 1100 institutions, and now, finally, the Finals are here. The national finals of the expanded Indian School Basketball League (ISBL) and Indian College Basketball League (ICBL) - organized by the Basketball Federation of India and IMG Reliance - tipped off at the Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi on Monday, December 15. 40 school and college teams in the men's and women's divisions from 10 cities around India are battling for the ultimate honours: becoming national ISBL/ICBL champions after the finals on December 21.

The revamped BFI-IMG Reliance ISBL/ICBL tipped off in late September this year with ambitious expansion to various new cities and the involvement of many new schools and colleges in the programme this year. The tournament featured teams two different formats for each division in the ISBL and ICBL: the Premier League and the Challenger League.

Each of the winners of the Premier League cities are now in New Delhi vying for the national crown, while the Challenger League winners will be getting a chance to win promotion into the upper league. Four categories of national champions will be crowned from the Premier League cities: Men’s National College Champion, Women’s National College Champion, Boy’s National School Champion, and Girl’s National School Champion.

“These leagues have given a much needed platform for players to garner attention from scouts and coaches and that bodes well for students who aspire to make a career in basketball,” said BFI's CEO Roopam Sharma in a report to Ekalavyas.com. “This is the first and most important step in creating a sustainable basketball ecosystem that will nurture and develop talent across India and based out on the turnout at the city levels, I except an exciting and competitive Finals that will help further promote the game. My best wishes to all the national finalists and I hope all the participating teams in both the leagues enjoy themselves and learn more about the game, so they come back stronger next season.”

The total prize money for all the categories is valued at Rs. 43 lakhs. Winnings teams will also be rewarded with court refurbishments at the school or college. Runners-ups will also get support on improving basketball infrastructure in their educational institutions.

“The Indian School Basketball League and Indian College Basketball League are the first national multi-city, pan-India events of their kind and represent a key milestone in the Basketball Federation of India and IMG Reliance partnership," said Ashu Jindal, the CEO of IMG Reliance, "Together, for the past four years, we have been working to grow the sport of basketball and improve the technical quality of play in India; through these leagues, youngsters in over 22 cities have been exposed high quality, structured league competition for the first time. The response we have gotten from schools and colleges is phenomenal, this year an unprecedented 13000 young cagers have participated in the three month leagues and we look forward to reaching out to more players every year."

Apart from the on-court competition, attending players and coaches will also get a chance to participate in clinics conducted by India's National Senior Men's Coach Scott Flemming and National Strength and Conditioning Coach Tommy Heffelfinger.

There will also be the first-ever national Skills Challenge, which will include a dunk contest, three-point contest, and more.

India's top under-14 state teams head to Nashik (Maharashtra) for 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship

Don't equate India's lack of international basketball success to a lack of potential talent: As some of the top late-bloomers in India have shown, it wasn't their talent which was lacking, it was only their timing. To create a revolution in Indian basketball and produce world-beaters from our country, we have to focus on identifying and training the players with the best upside as early as possible. For about a week in Nashik (Maharashtra), fans will get a chance to see the work put in to hone the craft of the youngest members of the Indian hoops fraternity. The Sub-Junior (Under-14) nationals is the youngest national-level basketball tournament in the country: From November 22-28, Nashik is hosting the 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls. 27 boys' teams and 25 girls' teams gathered for tip off at the Meenathai Thakrey Stadium on Saturday.

The onus will be on Chhattisgarh - champions in both the boys' and girls' divisions at this tournament last year in Patna - to continue their dominating performances this year, too. Chhattisgarh's girls have won every Sub-Jr title since 2002 (12 in a row!), and last year, their boys' team joined in the celebrations, too. Madhya Pradesh will be another team to watch in both divisions while Tamil Nadu (Girls) and Rajasthan (Boys) have enjoyed stellar performances in this competition in the recent past. Hosts Maharashtra will be out to defend their home court, while this tournament will also mark the debut of Telengana - India's newest state born out of northern Andhra Pradesh - at the national basketball level as an independent team.

The tournament is being organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and IMG Reliance in partnership with the Maharashtra Basketball Association.

Participating teams at the 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship

• Boys: Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Karnataka, Mizoram, Telengana, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Delhi, Punjab, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh.
  
• Girls: Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Telengana, Rajasthan, Goa, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Manipur, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Haryana, Gujarat.
  

Chhattisgarh's Boys team opened up their title defense in style on Saturday, taking a 11-point lead at halftime up to a convincing 75-57 victory over the tough Andhra Pradesh squad. Salim Ali was impressive for Chhattisgarh with 27 points in the win. In a battle of the silver and bronze medalists from 2013, Madhya Pradesh used a scintillating fourth quarter to turn a close game into a blowout victory against Rajasthan. Harshwarohan Tomar had 21 for MP, who won 60-40 after a 16-4 run in the final period of the game.

In a girls' contest of two strong neighbouring southern states, Kerala used tough defense to see off Karnataka 49-27. Sreekala R led the way for Kerala with 23 points in the win, nearly single-handedly equaling the total of her opponents. In their first game as an independent state, Telengana Girls maintained a steady lead over Rajasthan en route to a 50-31 win.

Selected Scores

Boys

• Chhattisgarh (Salim Ali 27) bt Andhra Pradesh (S. Syed 14) 75-57 (23-16, 16-12, 25-20, 11-9).
  
• Madhya Pradesh (Harshwarohan Tomar 21) bt Rajasthan 60-40 (12-8, 14-14, 18-14, 16-4).
  
• Odisha (Suresh Das 36) bt Uttar Pradesh 66-58 OT (9-17, 17-6, 22-15, 5-15, 13-5).
  

Girls

• Odisha (Papli Patra 14) bt Uttarakhand 41-25 (14-10, 2-4, 15-6, 10-5).
  
• Telengana bt Rajasthan 50-31 (13-12, 15-9, 13-4, 9-6).
  
• Kerala (Sreekala R 23) bt Karnataka 49-27 (12-8, 10-10, 10-5, 17-4).
  

The finals of the tournament are scheduled to be held on Friday, November 28.