SportsKeeda presents 2014 NBA Top 20

The 2013-14 NBA season is just around the corner, and the family of Basketball Writers at SportsKeeda will be welcoming the upcoming season by returning to the second iteration of the SportsKeeda NBA Top 20, our ranking of the top 20 best players in the NBA for 2012/13; the players who will be most “valuable”, not just to their team but in determining the course of how the upcoming season unravels.

Click here to read more!

Foolad Mahan (Iran) win 2013 FIBA Asia Champions Cup; India's ONGC end 8th

It was an all Middle Eastern finale between a club from Iran and a club from Qatar, hosted by the city of Amman in Jordan. And in the end, the 24th FIBA Asia Champions Cup title was lifted by Iran's Foolad Mahan, who made a strong fourth-quarter run to break a close tie and defeat Qatar's Al Rayyan 84-74. The FIBA Asia Champions Cup pitted together nine of the leading club sides from nine different Asian countries. Uttarakhand'd ONGC - who represented India - had a tournament to forget, losing all six of their games to end at 8th place.

On the final on Saturday in Amman, Foolad Mahan was led by the trustworthy duo of Mahdi Kamrani (21 points) and Hamed Haddadi (20 points, 14 rebounds), who was coming off an MVP performance at the FIBA Asia Championship. Haddadi kept up his dominant play and the dominance of Iran in Asian tournaments as Foolad Mahan came back from trailing by five points at the end of the third period to posting a 10 point victory. Slovenian Sani Becirovic added 19 for the winning side.

Al Rayyan, who seemed to be in charge of things after a strong third period, couldn't match Mahan's intensity in the decisive final period. Naturalized American Boney Watson had 27 points in a losing effort while Yasseen Musa added 18.

On the same day as the finals, local Jordanian side ASU blew past Al Hala of Bahrain en route to a 107-76 victory to secure the bronze medal. The high-scoring effort by ASU was led by Ahmad Alhamarsheh (29), Wesam Al Sous (20), and Ayman Idais (19). Import player Rasheim Wright had 26 points to lead Al Hala.

On Friday, eventual winners Foolad Mahan had their way against Al Hala, dominating them with a 121-73 victory. Joshua Asselin had 21 points to lead Foolad while Kamrani added 20, who sped past in the second half of the game after a close first. In the second semi-final, hosts ASU fell to Al Rayyan in a close contest, 71-67. Boney Watson was unstoppable for Rayyan, leading all scorers with 27 points.

The 24th installment of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup featured teams mostly from the Middle Eastern region, and the only outsiders were ONGC - representing South Asia - and Kazakhstan's BC Capchagay, from the Central Asian region. ONGC and Capchagay were grouped together in Group B, along with Al Rayyan and Iraq's Duhok. The group was were missing a side from Philippines, and with only four members in the group, all teams were guaranteed a spot in the Quarter-Final and a top eight finish.

ONGC sent a 12-member squad - led by coach Durgesh Bhatia - and featuring Indian internationals Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Amrit Pal Singh, and Yadwinder Singh, along with savvy veterans like Mohit Bhandari, Trideep Rai, Sridhar Shanmugum, and Murali Krishna.

ONGC's first game at the contest was against Capchagay. After a close first quarter, Capchagay pulled away with a strong performance in the second period and ONGC were left to play catch-up soon after. Despite balanced scoring performances by Amrit Pal (20), Bhriguvanshi (19), and Rai (18), ONGC's comeback attempt failed as they lost the contest 79-72. Vsevolod Fadeikin of Capchagay led all scorers with 22.

ONGC started strong once again in their second game against Duhok, but once more, couldn't maintain the momentum. They only trailed by six at halftime, but dominating performances by Duhok's imports Ronald Traylor Jr. (28) and Ricardo Marsh (19) led the Iraqi side to an eventually comfortable 99-70 win. Bhriguvanshi led ONGC with a valiant 26 point performance.

ONGC didn't stand a chance in their final group game versus eventual semi-finalists Al Rayyan. Al Rayyan played strong defense and were led by Alvin Mofunanya's 16 points in the offensive end to defeat ONGC 85-58, a performance that included holding down the Indian side to just seven points in the opening quarter. Amrit Pal had finished with 16 points for the losing side.

Finishing bottom of their group, ONGC were drawn in the Quarter-Final against the top finishers of Group A, Foolad Mahan. The tournament-winners had no troubled blowing past ONGC to a 104-56 win. Kamrani (20), Asselin (20), and Becirovic (16) helped Foolad's multi-pronged attack as the Iranians dominated each quarter on both ends of the floor. Bhriguvanshi (20) and Amrit Pal (17) were again ONGC's leading scorers.

The Indian side were now relegated to contest for the 5-8th place playoffs. They fought in a rematch against Duhok first, but once again, the Iraqi side's imports were too much for ONGC to handle. Marsh (29) and Taylor (26) were unstoppable, but ONGC stayed close throughout the contest, and took the lead at halftime. ONGC stretched their advantage to five at the end of the third quarter, but a strong defensive finish by Duhok held ONGC to just 12 points in the final period. Duhok won 85-82, overcoming impressive outings by Amrit Pal (26) and Rai (22) in the process.

ONGC's final game was another rematch, this time against Kazakh side BC Capchagay. Capchagay started strong to take an eight point advantage in the first period and then never looked back. Bhriguvanshi had a tournament-best 32 points of all Indian players, but it wasn't enough as ONGC fell to a 101-74 defeat. Amrit Pal added 17 for ONGC. Capchagay were led by MR Adamu (21), Daniil Seleznyov (16), Vsevolod Fadeikin (16).

Going 0-6 in the championship, ONGC finished the tournament at 8th place. It was certainly not pretty and a lot more weaknesses were exposed of the Indian players against stronger mostly Middle-Eastern teams. Additionally, ONGC were amongst the only sides in the tournament without foreign imports or naturalized players, and couldn't keep up with their higher quality opponents.

Still, the experience could prove valuable, especially for young Center Amrit Pal Singh, who continued his improvement and continued to take strides in becoming India's best big man. Amrit Pal scored 17.7 points per game, good enough for second best in his team, and was one of the tournament's top rebounders, grabbing 10.2 boards per contest. Bhriguvanshi led ONGC in the scoring department with 19.3 ppg.

India's ONGC to take part in 2013 FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Jordan

Pitting together the top clubs from various Asian countries, FIBA Asia's official international club tournament - the 24th FIBA Asia Champions Cup - is set to be held in Amman, Jordan from September 13-21, 2013. The tournament will feature nine top club men's basketball teams from nine different Asian countries. India's Men's champions from the 2013 Federation Cup in Bangalore - Uttarakhand's ONGC - will be the sole representative from South Asia at Amman.

The annual Champions Cup returns in interesting circumstances, as last year's final in Lebanon - between local side Al Riyadi Beirut and Mahram of Iran - was put off due to security concerns in the region.

India's ONGC are currently riding a wave of great success domestically, particularly after they signed Indian international stalwarts Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and Yadwinder Singh into their star-studded veteran mix. They qualified as India's top side after the blowing past Chennai's IOB at the BFI's Federation Cup Championship in February this year.

ONGC have been placed in Group B of the Champions Cup's Preliminary Round, along with Al Rayyan, Duhok, and BC Capchagay. A team from Philippines to represent South East Asia - the San Miguel Beerman - pulled out from the tournament due to unavailability of players. Since there are only four teams in the group, they are guaranteed to qualify for the knockout stage, but they will shoot for as high as finish as possible to get a favourable draw in the Quarter-Finals.

24th FIBA Asia Champions Cup Groupings

Group A: Al Hala (Bahrain), ASU (Jordan), Foolad Mahan (Iran), Khas Bronchos (Mongolia), Al Jaish (Syria).
Group B: Al Rayyan (Qatar), Duhok (Iraq), ONGC (India), BC Capchagay (Kazakhstan).

ONGC's roster for FIBA Asia Champions Cup

• Dinesh Kumar
  
• Vishesh Bhriguvanshi
  
• Amrit Pal Singh
  
• Sridhar Shanmugum
  
• Anoop Mukkanniyil
  
• Des Raj
  
• Yadwinder Singh
  
• Mohit Bhandari
  
• Trideep Rai
  
• Riyazuddin
  
• Murali Krishna Ravindran
  
• Sabeer Ahmed
  
• Head Coach: Durgesh Bhatia
  

Aside from Vishesh and Yadwinder, ONGC feature up-and-coming India international big man Amrit Pal Singh as well as savvy veterans like Bhandari, Trideep, Sridhar, and Murali Krishna.

Preliminary Round Schedule for ONGC - All Times IST

• September 14 - 6:30 PM: BC Capchagay vs. ONGC.
  
• September 15 - 8:30 PM: ONGC vs. Duhok.
  
• September 16 - 8:30 PM: Al Rayyan vs. ONGC.
  

The Quarter Finals will begin after the Preliminary Round, and the Final is scheduled for September 21st.

Chhattisgarh (Girls) and Delhi (Boys) win Junior National Basketball Championship in Cuttack

Chhattisgarh's Women's basketball continued their golden age of dominance over hoops in India, defending their gold medal by winning the final on Sunday at the 64th National Basketball Championship for Junior Men & Women, India's premier basketball competition for under-18 talents from across the nation. Chhattisgarh defeated a spirited Kerala squad in the Final at Cuttack, in Odisha. The Men's title was capture by Delhi, who defeated Punjab in another clash of the titans.

The Junior Nationals, organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the Odisha Basketball Association, featured a total of 46 squads in the boys' and girls' divisions and was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium from September 1-8 in Cuttack.

The tournament featured surprises, breakout performances, and some dominant play by India's best junior stars, many of whom are sure to be the faces of the nation's basketball charge in the future.

Led by the dominant 6'7" Poonam Chaturvedi, India's tallest active female basketball player, Chhattisgarh arrived in the Final for a fitting clash against rivals Kerala. Chaturvedi, who averaged a scintillating 46 points per contest through the course of the tournament, added 43 points and 19 rebounds in the Final to cap a wildly successful route to the title. Sangeeta Kaur added 21 in the final for the winning side. Chhattisgarh took an early lead and maintained it till the end to outlast Kerala 79-69. Kerala's Poojamol KS, another star talent for the Indian junior side, scored 33 points in the final, but no other teammate was able to add to her efforts in the final.

The boys title pitted the deep and experienced Delhi side against the experienced and big squad from Punjab. Punjab's star-studded roster also featured India's 7-foot-1 phenom Satnam Singh Bhamara. Bhamara continued his bright performances at the championship with 24 points in the Final. Punjab led by one at the end of the first quarter, but Delhi made a comeback in the second and the dominant third period to take the lead and hold on for a 89-82 win. A mixed group of stars led by Pradeep Kumar (26), Gaurav Ohlan (23) and Pankaj Rathi (17) led the way for Delhi.

The bronze medal games were also held at the venue on Sunday. Tamil Nadu Boys rode on the coattails of S. Karthickeyan, who had a game-high 38 points to help vanquish Kerala 96-57. Akhil added 20 for the losing side. In the girls' game, Maharashtra broke a close tie against Tamil Nadu in the second quarter and maintained their advantage for a 78-66 victory. Ishwari Pingle (21), Shireen Limaye (19) and Krittika (16) were the leading scorers for Maharashtra.

Delhi's Gaurav Ohlan (Boys) and Chhattisgarh's Kavita Akula (Girls) were named the MVPs of the tournament.

The winning teams were awarded Rs 1,00,000 each, the silver-medalists Rs 75,000, and the bronze-medalists Rs 50,000. The two MVP’s in the boys and girls section, Delhi’s Gaurav Ohlan and Chhattisgarh’s Kavita Akula won Rs 15,000 each. During halftime of both the finals, the silver medal winning girls and boys teams from the 1st U18 FIBA Asia 3X3 Championship in Bangkok were awarded cash prizes of Rs 50,000 each.

On Saturday, history was made the tournament's semi-finals. Chhattisgarh's Poonam Chaturvedi, who had dropped 63 on Tamil Nadu Girls earlier in the competition, broke out once again against TN in the Semi-Final clash, scoring 67 points in one of the greatest individual performances of All Time at the Junior Nationals. Kavita Akula added 16 for Chhattisgarh who stormed by TN for a 110-79 win. R. Selvamithra led TN with 17. In the earlier girls' semi, Poojamol KS (30), Grima (22), Elizabeth (19) helped Kerala overcome a six point half-time deficit to Maharashtra to come back and post a 88-84 win. Sruthi (24) and Shireen Limaye (23) led the way for Maharashtra in the neck-to-neck challenge.

It was a close game in the boys' semi-final between Delhi and Tamil Nadu too, until the fourth quarter when mistakes and foul trouble by TN helped Delhi gain momentum and sneak by to a 92-75 victory. AS Sohal had a game-high 37 for Delhi, while Pradeep Kumar and Narendra Rathi added 17 each. S. Karthickeyan (23) and P. Vijay (17) were leading scorers for TN. In another close game between Punjab and Kerala, Satnam Singh Bhamara scored with 26 points while Rajveer Singh (20) and Khushmeet Singh (16) aided his efforts to help Punjab stamp their place in the Final with a 80-75 win. It was a close game till the very end, with both teams exchanging leads until Punjab finally created some separation in the game's dying minutes. Sreerag had 22 for Kerala.

Final Scores

• Boys:Delhi (Pradeep Kumar 26, Ohlan Gourav 23, Pankaj Rathi 17, Narender Rathi 15) bt Punjab (Satnam Singh 24, Loveneet Singh 14) 89-82 (19-20, 24-26, 20-11, 26-25).
  
• Girls: Chhattishgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 43, Sangeeta 21, Akula Kavita 13) bt Kerala (Poojamol KS 33) 79-68 (21-15, 18-15, 19-21, 21-17).
  

Third/Fourth Place Matchups

• Boys: Tamil Nadu (S.Karthickeyan 38, Nikal Pandian 13, M. Harissh 13) bt Kerala (Akhil 20) 96-57 (27-18, 24-11, 30-12, 15-16).
  
• Girls: Maharashtra (Ishwari Pingle 21, Shireen Limaye 19, Krittika 16, Sruthi 13) bt Tamil Nadu (Keerthi 13) 78-66 (21-21, 19-13, 18-18, 20-14).
  

Final Standings

Boys

1. Delhi
2. Punjab
3. Tamil Nadu
4. Kerala
5. Madhya Pradesh

Girls

1. Chhattisgarh
2. Kerala
3. Maharashtra
3. Tamil Nadu
5. Uttar Pradesh

46 under-18 basketball teams descend in Cuttack for India's Junior National Championship

A total of 23 boys' teams and 23 girls' teams have descended in the city of Cuttack, Odisha, to take part in India's premier under-18 tournament, the 64th Junior National Basketball Championship for boys and girls. The tournament tipped off on Sunday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack, and is slated to be held until September 8th.

Chhattisgarh's boys' and girls' squads both won the previous edition of the Junior Nationals in Puducherry, and will be defending their titles against the best young talent in the country this year. The championship is being organized by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) is association with the Odisha Basketball Association.

The participating teams are:

Boys

Level 1
Group A: Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan.
Group B: Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh.
Level 2
Group C: Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh.
Group D: Odisha, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir.
Group E: West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand.
Group F: Haryana, Assam, Puducherry, Uttarakhand.

Girls

Level 1
Group A: Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana.
Group B: Maharashtra, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha.
Group C: Karnataka, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh.
Level 2
Group D: Puducherry, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir.
Group E: Jharkhand, Bihar, Rajasthan.
Group F: Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

On Sunday evening, the championship was inaugurated by Dr. S. C. Jamir, the Governor of Odisha.

Chhattisgarh girls started the tournament in Cuttack on a positive note on day one, following the lead of India's tallest female basketball players Poonam Chaturvedi to a 92-65 win over Uttar Pradesh. Chaturvedi scored 44 points as Chhattisgarh led from the opening tip to a statement win. Experienced youngster Sangeeta Kaur added 31 for Chhattisgarh. UP were led by Preeti Kumari's 20 points.

In other top girls' game, Kerala and Punjab fought it out in a defensive encounter, which Kerala won 62-50. Young Kerala superstar Poojamol KS had 21 points for the winning side and Garima Merlin added 20. Nirmal Kaur had 29 points for Punjab in a losing effort.

In the boys' division, Delhi broke the triple-digit mark in a high-scoring affair, running past Rajasthan to a 114-86 victory. Pradeep (29), Narendar (26), A. Singh Sohal (25) and Pankaj (16) led the way to the win. Devendra had 22 for Rajasthan.

Tamil Nadu came back from a first quarter deficit to beat Madhya Pradesh 75-64 earlier on the first day. S. Karthickeyan was on fire, scoring 28 points, while Vijay added 17 in the victory.

You can follow all the results from the tournament via the BFI here.

Scores

Boys

• Tamil Nadu (S. Karthickayan 28, P.Vijay 17, G.Bethal 13) bt Madhya Pradesh (BP Singh 15, B Akash 14) 75-64 (21-23, 22-16, 20-8, 12-17).
  
• Delhi (Pradeep 29, Narendar 26, A Singh Sohal 25, Pankaj 16) bt Rajasthan (Devendra 22, Navjot 14, Atul Singh 14, Abhimanyu 13, Tushar 13) 114-86 (22-17, 39-13, 24-30, 29-16).
  
• Karnataka (Issac Thomas 20, Sowkin Shetty 13) bt Andhra Pradesh 80-52 (24-24, 21-7, 19-11, 16-10).
  

Girls

• Chhattishgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 44, Sangeeta Kaur 31) bt Uttar Pradesh (Preeti Kumari 20, Barkha Sonkar 14) 92-65 (24-15, 23-15, 19-19, 26-16).
  
• Kerala (Poojamol KS 21, Garima Merlin 20) bt Punjab (Nirmal Kaur 29) 62-50 (12-9, 18-14, 13-16, 19-11).
  
• Karnataka (Supriya MS 16) bt Gujarat 67-13 (28-6, 14-2, 13-0, 12-5).
  

Vote Hoopistani in the SportsKeeda Blogger Awards!

i

Glad to announce that my blog - Hoopistani - has been nominated for the SportsKeeda Blogger Awards 2012 - presented by India's top sports blogging portal SportsKeeda.com - in the 'Other Sports' category (Cricket, Football, and others). If you've enjoyed my features and content over the past year, then please do hand me your votes!

Click on the badge below to vote for my blog!

Navigate to the 'Other Blogs' link on that page and you'll find Hoopistani under the 'Basketball' section. And done.

SportsKeeda presents 2013 NBA Top 20

The 2012/13 NBA season is just around the corner, and we – the family of Basketball Writers at SportsKeeda – have been waiting for tip off with high anticipation. And so, a half dozen of the best basketball minds on this website got together to debate, discuss, and analyse the best in the NBA, the individuals who make this into the most exciting league in the world - the SportsKeeda Top 20.

Read full article here.

FIBA releases 'Basketball is Everywhere' photo-book (My Mussoorie photo included!)

On 18th June, 1932, a small group of representatives from just eight countries around the world gathered together to create FIBA, the International Basketball Federation. Over the course of the next 80 years, this federation grew from its measly birth of eight to bringing together 213 basketball federations from all across the world, from Afghanistan to the Marshall Islands, from India to the USA. In the process, the game of basketball developed into one of the world's favourite sports, courts sprung up in every nook and cranny that could fit a rim and some dribbling space across the planet, millions of balls dribbled across the globe, and the game's best players became global celebrities.

In short, basketball was everywhere.

To celebrate the growth of the game on their 80th anniversary this year, FIBA held the 'Basketball is Everywhere' photo contest, urging fans around the world to send their best hoops-related photographs. In three months, 1066 photographers from 104 different countries sent a total of 1174 photos to the website 80years.fiba.com These pictures portrayed all sides of the wonder game of basketball - an NBA court in the USA, a crowd of people throwing up basketballs in Lithuania, a elderly man gathering basketballs in the Philippines, a desert basketball game in Mongolia, a French international basketball star ready to check into an international game, a snowed-in outdoor court in Finland... and many, many more.

FIBA held an online poll to determine the favourite photographs from their fans, and had their own judges weigh in to hand out the top rewards. The winners were announced on June 18th, exactly on FIBA's 80th birthday. The winner - Geronimo Abachian of Argentina - won the right to attend the Men's and Women's basketball finals at the Olympic Games in London. Photographs from the Philippines and the United States won the second and third prizes respectively.

And as for yours truly - Karan Madhok - I also took part in the competition, submitting a photograph I took two years ago of a basketball court in the city of Mussoorie in India. I grew up studying in Mussoorie for several years and worked there too, so the little town that sits up in the mountainous Himalayas has always been special to me. My photograph of this court won be a special prize from FIBA, and I was awarded a commemorative limited edition watch! FIBA also sent me a special souvenir photo-book of the 80 best photographs from the contest. My photograph of the court in Mussoorie was included, and it was also sent as a poster with the book!

It's been a pleasure flipping through the pages of this photo-book, which shows basketball in all forms, shapes, and sizes, all around the world. I think it has only re-affirmed my love for the game. I have included some of those photos in this article, but I highly recommend that you try and browse through more of these photos on FIBA's 80 years website.

Interestingly, India's sports-writing website SportsKeeda.com has used its own vehicle to reach out to basketball fans recently in a similar way. SportsKeeda facebook page for Indian basketball - Basketball India - has also put together an incredible collection of photographs of basketball courts from across the country, photos snapped and sent by their fans. Take a look at their photo gallery too to see some great Indian hoops pics.

Inspired yet? Go out and take some basketball pics of your own court. More importantly, trash that camera and just go out and play basketball!

Taking my talents to... SportsKeeda.com

For those who have long followed this blog, fans of basketball in India and fans of the NBA, you may know that a lot of my posts also appear on SportsKeeda.com: the portal for sports fans and writers in India.

Starting this week, I will be officially joining SportsKeeda as a freelance writer. Keep checking SportsKeeda.com/Basketball for my features on India Basketball and the NBA.

Thanks for following and I hope you keep reading! I also write two features a week for NBA.com/India. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter, where I'm a lot more interesting.