Hoopdarshan 109: Amritpal Singh returns to dominate for Team India

In a must-win qualifying game against Palestine, Amritpal Singh posted 32 points and 12 rebounds to secure a dramatic comeback victory for India. Now, the Punjabi big man joins Hoopdarshan to look ahead at the FIBA Asia Cup, share how he remained sharp during the Lockdown, and reminisce his time with the NBL in Australia. Hosted by Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok. 

 Also in Episode 109, Kaushik and Karan discuss India's performance at the FIBA Asia Women's Cup, and recap the worst storylines of the NBA's offseason.

 

Hoopdarshan is the truest 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 
• - Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud 
• - On Twitter: @Hoopdarshan 
• - Facebook.com/Hoopdarshan 
• 
  

Hoopdarshan Episode 3 - Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and the lifestyle of Indian basketball stars

On Episode 3 of Hoopdarshan - the first-ever Indian basketball podcast - hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok catch up with Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, one of the most talented and experienced players of India's national team and a dominant force for India at the domestic stage. Bhriguvanshi reveals the worldview of being a top basketball player in India, discussing why he chose basketball as a profession, his greatest national and international experiences, and his love for good ol' dal-chawal.

Bhriguvanshi (26), from Varanasi, is one of the most accomplished players in Indian basketball today. He has been a key component for India's national Sr. Men's team for nine years,holding the role of captain for the majority of his time. He has played in three FIBA Asia Championships, two Asian Games, and was one of India's top players in the squad that defeated China at the FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan last year. Bhriguvanshi has also won gold and silver awards at several FIBA Asia 3x3 events for India. Domestically, he has won five of the last seven Senior National Championships with Railways and with ONGC, his current employers.



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
  
• - Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud
  
• - On Twitter: @Hoopdarshan
  
• - Facebook.com/Hoopdarshan
  

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.

The New Kingdom?

With the NBA’s first Indian owner Vivek Ranadive and first Indian-origin player Sim Bhullar, the Sacramento Kings are setting their sights at conquering basketball’s next great frontier

I wrote this feature for SLAM Online, and it was originally published on their website on September 3, 2014.

Up by three points with less than four minutes to go in their Preliminary Round game against China, India were on the cusp of history. If India could hold on to their lead, it would give them their first victory over Asian giants China in over 70 years of international competitive basketball.

Held in Wuhan, China this year, the FIBA Asia Cup featured nine or ten of the top teams of the continent. China had chosen to field mostly a second-string roster for this tournament, but nevertheless, they featured many players (like 18-year-old NBA prospect Zhou Qi) who would have a role in the upcoming Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) season. The Indian national team had no basketball professionals. A win over China – weakened squad or not – would be unprecedented.

Meanwhile, back home in India, hardly anyone knew of this game or the tournament at all. Basketball is a niche sport in a country of 1.2 billion people – the world’s second-largest population after China – most of whom weren’t even aware if India even had a basketball team. Beyond cricket – which is India’s most-loved and nearly-exclusive national pastime – there is much ignorance among the general public about the country’s exploits in other sports. This ignorance unfortunately extends to the larger Indian diaspora across the world too, from the United States and Canada to Britain and Australia.

“Do Indians even play basketball?” many wonder.

Back over in Wuhan, the 12 Indians of the national squad were playing basketball all right. After decades of 20, 30, 40, or 50 point losses to China in the past, here was an Indian team suddenly confident to be within close grasp of the impossible. They had blown a double-digit early lead already, fallen behind to the Chinese in the second half, and then bounced back again. Now, the score read 55-52 in India’s favour, with 4:07 remaining in the final quarter.

Limited to mostly Asian tournaments over the past few decades, the Indian team had been minnows against the continent’s giants, happy to compete for participation points rather than any medals. India’s current FIBA world ranking (61) sees them trail behind the likes of the Virgin Islands and Cape Verde, two countries with a combined population of a little more than Dehradun, India’s 76^th most populous city. Despite some baby steps towards recent improvement, India have also made a habit of dramatic late-game breakdowns. A late three-point lead over China, in China, felt more like a house of cards ready to collapse. 

While India tried to survive those remaining four minutes, thousands of kilometres away in the Western Hemisphere, there were a couple other Indians flirting with history. Last year, Mumbai-born Vivek Ranadive had become the first Indian majority owner of an NBA team when he purchased the Sacramento Kings. While Ranadive’s Kings struggled on court, the software tycoon focused on pushing the team’s brand off-court in his attempts to tie in his team with the country of his birth and use his unique opportunity to make the Kings into “India’s Team.”

Meanwhile, a Canadian born to Indian-immigrants in Ontario grew to become a 7-foot-5 inch behemoth and win a couple of back-to-back Western Athletic Conference (WAC) tournament MVP awards in two years at New Mexico State. This giant – Sim Bhullar – declared for the NBA draft, went undrafted, and was promptly picked up by Ranadive’s Kings for their Summer League squad. Coincidently, on the same day that India played China in Wuhan, Bhullar made his Summer League debut for the Kings against the Hornets in Las Vegas.

A month later, on the same day that India celebrated its 67^th Independence Day, the Kings announced that they had signed Bhullar to a contract, officially making him the first player of Indian-origin in the NBA. With one signature, a racial barrier had been broken in the league and the Kings had taken another calculated step towards their outreach to India.

Ranadive stressed the importance of Bhullar’s cultural heritage and its influence on the Indian audience. “I’ve long believed that India is the next great frontier for the NBA, and adding a talented player like Sim only underscores the exponential growth basketball has experienced in that nation,” Ranadive said in a press release, “While Sim is the first player of Indian descent to sign with an NBA franchise, he represents one of many that will emerge from that region as the game continues to garner more attention and generate ever-increasing passion among a new generation of Indian fans.”       

Over the past year, Ranadive’s Kings have hosted Indian-culture nights, launched the NBA’s only Hindi-language website, and even released a classic video reaching out to Indian fans to vote DeMarcus Cousins into the past All Star Game. Ranadive also expressed his desire to take the Kings to India for the NBA’s first-ever exhibition game there.

Blake Ellington, an associate editor with sactownroyalty.com, spoke to me recently from the perspective of Kings’ fans about the team’s ‘Indianization’, “Sacramento is a small market and Kings fans enjoy it when the team is on national television or involved in things like Vivek's efforts to expand the NBA into India,” he said, “The Kings held a Bollywood Night last season and the fans were exposed to some elements of Indian culture, and they seemed to have a good time with it… I think Kings fans do have sort of a kinship with India now.”

Just days after his signing was made official, Bhullar joined Ranadive to headline the largest-ever ‘India Day’ parade through New York City. While two other members of the Sacramento Kings – DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay – headed off to Spain to represent Team USA internationally, Ranadive and Bhullar were globalizing the Kings by reaching out to the Indian community in Sacramento, India, and worldwide.

On-court, the 21-year-old Bhullar – who will be the NBA’s tallest player next season – is still a work on progress. It would be unlikely for him to get an opportunity to be anything more than a fringe contributor in Sacramento, but he has the ambitions to prove his doubters – many who believe that he was signed for business rather than basketball reasons – wrong.

Photo: Karan Madhok for Ekalavyas.com

“I just wanna get better,” Bhullar told me in an interview a few weeks ago, “I want to change my game to fit the NBA game. I want to get more comfortable with the league and prove all those who doubt me wrong. I’ll respond to [the critics] by just producing, by just doing what I do.”

Ellington believes that Bhullar still has a way to go before becoming an impact player for the Kings this season. “He isn't quick enough (at the moment) to compete with NBA-level players – we saw that on display in the NBA Summer League. He will probably get an opportunity to play on the Kings' D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns. This will be good experience for him and maybe with some extended playing time there he will work himself into a spot where he could get some minutes on the Kings roster… So is it cool that the Kings signed the first NBA player of Indian descent? Absolutely. Do I expect him to do much for the Kings this season? No.”

Off-the-court, Bhullar’s impact in India will be felt if he truly can become a role model to a people who need a basketball star to inspire the next generation. Indian basketball players – in India or abroad – rarely made the jump into mainstream consciousness. The best players in India’s national squad like Amjyot Singh, Amrit Pal Singh, or Vishesh Bhriguvanshi are barely recognized outside the small, core basketball circles in India. Success for Bhullar could promote the Kings and the NBA in India, and if basketball gets more popular in the country, the spotlight could also shift on the exploits of India’s own star players.

But for a brief moment in July, those star Indian players did enjoy their moment in that spotlight. India had played inspired defence to keep the Chinese at bay. And now, with a little over four minutes left on the clock, Bhriguvanshi dribbled the ball across the three-point arc. He had locked eyes with the athletic Amjyot Singh, who – aided by two picks from his teammates – found a clear lane to the rim. Bhriguvanshi lobbed the ball up high to the inside, and Amjyot caught it and slammed it down to give India a five-point lead. The alley-oop ignited the entire Indian bench, as the players screamed and threw their towels up in celebration. The home crowd were shell-shocked in silence.

India survived the last three minutes of the game with a couple more clutch plays on both ends, and when the final buzzer sounded, India had won 65-58. Head Coach Scott Flemming (formerly an assistant with the NBDL’s Texas Legends) had led India to the unthinkable: a basketball victory over China. The overall performance – capped by Amjyot’s electrifying clutch alley-oop finish – were the product of an unfamiliar, confident Indian side, a squad that casually brushed away decades of failure to announce the coming of a new India. 

For once, both mainstream and social media in India took notice, the news trended on Twitter and went viral across the nation. Only success and hype can capture the attention of the notoriously-fickle Indian audiences, and India’s success at Wuhan displayed a small fraction of basketball’s potential to Indians if it is developed and promoted the right way.

In a country of over a billion people, even that small fraction represents a number in the hundreds of thousands. It is these hundreds of thousands – or millions – that Ranadive and the NBA is counting on to turn into basketball’s next kingdom. China is famously the world’s largest basketball market, with some estimates counting around 300 million hoop fans in the world’s most populous nation. As the Chinese market gets more saturated, India presents a tantalizing new face for the sport.

“What Yao Ming did for China, we hope players like Sim will do for India,” said Ranadive at the Summer League, “I have this vision — I call it NBA 3.0 — where I want to make basketball the premier sport of the 21st century.”

While he strives hard to get in shape and improve his eventual on-court impact, Sim Bhullar’s broad shoulders will also be carrying the hopes of the South Asian (or desi) basketball community across the globe. This is a heavy burden on a 21-year-old NBA rookie who is only looking to secure his professional future and make a place for himself in the world’s toughest basketball league. But so far, Bhullar has responded to this extra responsibility with great aplomb.

“I don’t feel any pressure,” Bhullar said, “I grew up in Ontario, Canada, and my parents came from India. I know that all the hard work that has been put leading up to this situation has paid out. I wanna be a role model: hopefully, I’ll get to see four or five more Indian-origin players in the NBA; that will be a great feeling!”

“Do Indians even play basketball?” they ask. Hopefully, Bhullar’s journey, coupled with the success of other Indian basketball players, can put to rest any further questions.

Great Leap Forward

Last month, American coach Scott Flemming inspired India to their biggest-ever victory. Could this be the game-changing moment for basketball in the country, asks Karan Madhok

This article was first published in Tehelka Magazine (Issue 33, Volume 11) in the magazine's August 16, 2014 edition. Here is another look at the feature.

Coming of age: Indian players celebrate their Asia Cup victory over China in Wuhan. Photo: Karan Madhok for Ekalavyas.com

When the buzzer rang to signify the game’s end, all 12 members of the Indian men’s basketball team — affectionately nicknamed the Young Cagers — jumped into each other’s arms, celebrating together with glee rarely felt in the country’s basketball scene before.

For the first time in India’s seven-decade- long basketball history, they had done the impossible, defeating China 65- 58 last month in Wuhan, the most populous city in central China. The Chinese are the Goliaths of Asian basketball and among the top dozen teams in the world. India, placed 61st in the Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) rankings, shocked the home crowd during the 5th FIBA Asia Cup, a biennial tournament featuring the continent’s top teams. Two years ago, the Indians were at the bottom of the pile, while China usually finish at the top more often than any other side. But on 13 July, the tables were turned.

While India’s heroes celebrated the stunning win on the court, the mastermind behind this improbable victory watched in silence from the sidelines, calmly soaking in the once-in-a-lifetime moment for him and his team.

In 2012, American Scott Flemming became the latest in the line of foreign coaches hired to make the most of India’s untapped potential. Two years later, he finally saw the fruits of his labours. India didn’t just defeat China, they became the breakout story of the tournament, as they gave headaches to top Asian teams such as Iran and the Philippines.

“I think we have proved that we belong,” said Flemming, 56, as he looked back at the team’s improved performances. “I don’t think there is anybody here that we feel we can’t beat. We have gotten past that point where we thought we had very little chance of winning. Those days are long gone. Now, we are going into every game knowing that we have an opportunity. It is a new day for India.”

But was this performance just a fluke in India’s otherwise dismal history?

The first national basketball championship was held in New Delhi in 1934 and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the game’s governing body in the country, was formed in 1950. Fifteen years later, the men’s team first took part in the FIBA Asia Championship — the highest platform for the game in the continent. Their best finish in the tournament was fourth place in 1975, and they have never reached those heights again. In 1980, as many countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics at the height of the Cold War, India made their first and only Olympic basketball appearance, but lost all seven of their games by an average margin of over 48 points each.

Game-changer Coach Scott Flemming. Photo: fiba.com

Limited to mostly Asian tournaments over the past few decades, the Indian team had been reduced to the role of minnows against the continent’s giants, happy to compete for participation points rather than gold. India’s current FIBA world ranking sees them trail behind the likes of the Virgin Islands, Cape Verde and Georgia.

Which is why the ‘Wonder of Wuhan’ — India’s surprise victory over China last month — will be remembered in the country’s basketball history forever. Although China fielded mostly a second-string squad for this tournament, they still featured those who will play professionally in the Chinese Basketball Association, one of the continent’s top professional leagues. Truly, all the countries India faced had players who play professional basketball for a living. The only exception was India.

All of India’s finest players today, such as Amjyot Singh, Vishesh Bhrighuvanshi and Amrit Pal Singh, are semi-professionals who have other day jobs and only participate in basketball tournaments to represent their state or the government unit that they work for. India is also among the handful of teams in Asia that don’t take advantage of FIBA’s ‘naturalised player’ rule, which allows each country to field one foreign-born player ‘naturalised’ into their nation. Since India doesn’t allow dual citizenship, no foreign player has given up his/her original passport to join India’s cause. Every single member of Team India was born, bred, and learnt to dribble the basketball — for better or worse — in India.

While India managed to defeat China, the latter is miles ahead in the marathon. Basketball is China’s favourite sport and the country boasts of world-class basketball infrastructure, star players such as Yao Ming, who have featured in the NBA (the world’s top basketball league in the US), and concentrated grassroots efforts that have produced hundreds of millions of talented young players.

Meanwhile, India has an unbalanced and mostly disorganised grassroots nursing system, and sorely lacks the necessary infrastructure to support our top talents, and the team’s exploits are mostly ignored by the mainstream media.

Worst of all, internal politics within the national and state federations have stunted any real growth and there is rarely any motivation from those who are in the basketball fraternity to rise higher. Many stay content to swivel around in mediocrity.

When he first came to India, an important part of Flemming’s mission was to change this attitude. So far, he has helped India take baby steps to success. On the court, the team has vastly improved on the defensive end and takes better care of the ball on the offence. Additionally, a growing sense of team chemistry through continuity has helped produce improved results in international tournaments over the past year, such as the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship in the Philippines and the Lusofonia Games in Goa where India won gold.

Flemming succeeded fellow American Kenny Natt, a former NBA player and head coach. But with limited time and resources, Natt couldn’t provide the team the needed turnaround in his 18-month stint. In 2012, Flemming came to India with 30 years of coaching experience, mostly at top college programmes in the US. He last served as an assistant coach to the NBA’s Development League side Texas Legends.

“My mission has been to improve India’s total national team programme from the under-14 team to the senior team,” says Flemming. “This can be done only with some consistency in player development methods and installing the same system of play. I also wanted to be a coach to other coaches in the country.

“It was my goal to narrow the gap between the top teams in Asia and our Indian national team. I have really emphasised the defensive part of the game with our team. I think this is being demonstrated by our opponents’ lower field goal percentages and lower scores. Defence will always help neutralise teams with more talent.”

India’s improved performances are a perfect underdog story, but it shouldn’t be. The country has the population and enough wealth to take bigger strides in the sport than they have taken so far.

Jayasankar Menon, who captained the national team in the 1990s, says that although India has taken real steps forward, only a professional league can herald a period of sustained success.

“Without a pro league, India cannot improve any further,” he says, “As far as players are concerned, playing for India once or a hundred times is the same. I have come across this situation after playing for India for a decade. The players need to be financially settled and only a pro league can make this happen. It is the right time for the administrators to act. Watch how the kabaddi and badminton leagues have done it. I know there are a lot of ifs and buts but the pro league is the answer.”

The responsibility for providing this answer will ultimately fall upon the BFI and its sponsors, a partnership between global sports/media company IMG Worldwide and India’s biggest conglomerate, Reliance. IMG-Reliance and the BFI have been planning to launch a professional league for years, and their efforts to grow the game at the grassroots with school and college leagues across cities has been a major step forward to get the game to more youth than ever before.

The recent launch of the football Indian Super League (ISL) — also organised by IMG-Reliance — provides a ray of hope for Indian basketball, as IMG chairman Mike Dolan announced that the ISL model would be used to launch India’s first professional league next year.

As many global observers have noted, basketball is one of the world’s fastestgrowing sports. With the interest of IMG-Reliance and the NBA, the 1.2 billion-strong country has the potential to become the game’s next lucrative market. But only a high-quality product will capture the fans’ attention, and the future performances of the national squad will determine if India can continue to provide a product to market to the larger masses.

“After the Asia Cup we have the confidence that we can compete with the top teams in Asia,” says Flemming, “We need to take the next step and win more of those games. We have come a long way, but still have a lot of room for improvement.”

Flemming’s two-year contract with Team India will come to an end in a few months, and he has said that he will evaluate the plans of his family and of the BFI before taking any future decisions. But regardless of his future, he has already secured his name in Indian basketball history by helping the Young Cagers finally grow up to defeat China and giving basketball fans in the country a moment that could change the game forever.

Semi-Pros: Despite having no professional basketball players, Team India are earning respect at FIBA Asia Cup

Yadwinder Singh, the most experienced current member of the Indian National Basketball team, has been travelling abroad for international tours with the squad for 12 years. And yet, despite some highlights in the past, he had never quite experienced something like this before. India had just defeated Asian powerhouses China in a game considered to be India's greatest basketball victory in history. A day later, they had easily blown out Indonesia to secure a spot in the Quarter-Finals of the 5th FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China.

"We are starting to feel like a real team," Yadwinder said, "It feels great when we get into an elevator, and strangers see us and congratulate us. Now they know who we are. They know we are Team India"

India have won two and lost two games at the tournament so far, a record that sounds less flattering than it truly is. India's first victory came against China, the best team in the continent whom India had never defeated before. Their second loss was to Iran, Asian champions, who were made to sweat and stumble against the persistent Indians after amazingly, finding themselves down at halftime. On the court, India may have only had two victories; but off of it, they are winning fans, respect, media attention, and adoration.

And the primary reason for this growing attention on Team India's success has been that Head Coach Scott Flemming has made this team into a feared competitor, despite having any talents in his roster holding on to a professional contract. All of India's finest players, including Amjyot Singh, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Amrit Pal Singh, Pratham Singh, and more, are semi-professionals, holding various other day jobs back home in India and only participating in basketball tournaments to represent their state or the government that they work for. There is no professional league in India and none of these players has ever been paid to play basketball abroad. When they're not playing basketball, India's best players can be found employed employed on sports quotas with government agencies like the Railways, armed forces, public sector companies like ONGC and BSNL, or nationalized banks such as Indian Overseas Bank and Vijaya Bank, a trend that Gopalakrishnan R. went in greater depth writing about on his feature for Fountain Ink magazine earlier this year.

All of this is common knowledge to the average Indian basketball fan; but the media in attendance at Wuhan and fans across Asia closely following this tournament have expressed disbelief and pleasant delight over this bit of news. What's more, unlike many other Asian teams, India doesn't have a single 'naturalized' foreign player on their roster: every single one of these twelve 'Young Cagers' was born, bred, and learnt to dribble the basketball - for better or worse - in India. Naturalization in basketball is a race that may be leaving India far behind, and a lot of followers of the team - including the coach - believe that allowing interested NRI players into the national system may be an important step forward.

The surprising thing - which also saddens me a bit - is that this team has already received more mainstream media coverage in China than it probably ever would back home. A few days ago, China's national and most prominent sports channel CCTV covered India's rising profile and tried to comprehend how a team of semi-professionals could defeat China's team of young rising stars.

On their loss to India, China could (and many have) use the excuse that the team they sent to the FIBA Asia Cup was a younger squad, but even all these young players will be making big money and having prominent roles in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) from the coming season. And in this very tournament, this same Chinese team has defeated Iran (Asian champions at their best) and Japan. All three of these teams, whom India also played, are full of professional players who play in leagues either in their respective countries or abroad - like Iran's Hamed Haddadi who has played in the NBA or Japan's Takumi Ishizaki, who plays in Germany. India's quarter final today will be against Philippines, featuring players all in the PBA and the naturalized American Marcus Douthit who was drafted into the NBA ten years ago.

If Indian players can give a good fight to these professionals, why can't they play at a professional level themselves? Amjyot Singh should be good enough to play in the CBA, and should definitely dominate any of the smaller pro leagues in the continent. The likes of Amrit Pal Singh and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi have a shot, too.

And there are many other youngsters waiting in the wings. But the problem is that, in most Asian professional leagues, there is a cap on the number of foreign players any team can have - a cap on both Asian foreigners and those outside the continent. That is why most teams in China, Japan, Philippines, or elsewhere spend their foreigner slot on North American or European players and pick more talented Asian individuals for their 'other Asian' slot. Only the cream of the crop Indians will be recruited professionally by these leagues, and it has only happened to our women players so far, like Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Paul Durai.

Unfortunately, many of our top men players will have to wait for Indian to launch a professional league of their own, something that I have argued in the past will completely revolutionize the sport in India over the long run. The onus is already on the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and IMG-Reliance to launch this league, hopefully as soon as next year. Only then will our top players not have to hold faux-office jobs with the railways or with banks and focus on basketball alone. Only then will they get to play quality basketball games all year, games that actually hold some meaning and value, instead of small tournaments where they face the same talent, or lack of talent, and rarely grow as players.

India's improved performances are a perfect underdog story, but they shouldn't be. India have the population, the space, and enough wealth to take bigger strides in the sport than we have taken so far. The fact that our players have been successful despite being professional should be celebrated, but the fact that it's 2014 and we can still not provide a professional platform for the same players is a shame.

Cinderella Stories, such as Team India's performances here at Wuhan, usually come to an abrupt end. But through a better basketball future for our top players, let's hope that moments like these don't remain a surprise, but become the norm. And the next time our players are recognized for being members of 'Team India', it is by strangers back home in India itself.

Indian refs also calling the shots at FIBA Asia Cup

India's national men's team are earning both wins and respect on the court at the 5th FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China, but they are not the only representatives from the nation making the 'tiranga' proud: India have also sent two of its most experienced referees - Snehal Bendkel and Ceciline Michael Vino - to call the shots on the court from a different angle. The tournament has added yet another feather in the cap for both these exceptional officials.

Bendke, born in the city of Kohlapur in Maharashtra, is truly one of our lesser-known national treasures. She has a ever-growing list of "firsts" next to her resume: she was among the first Indian women to become a FIBA referees, she was the first Indian woman to be nominated to officiate at the Olympics games, and she was among the two first women of any nationality to officiate at a Men's FIBA Asia Championship last year. She has refereed in the Women's World Championship and in Women's FIBA Asia tournaments for all age groups: U16, U18, and Seniors. And now, she is back to impose her ruling on the Asian Men's scene as one of the referees at the Men's FIBA Asia Cup.

"No, the men don't bully me!" she said, "But they're not afraid of me either, they know me now. In Manila - at the FIBA ABC last year - they were surprised to find a woman officiating them for the first time. They used to come and ask and make sure if I really was an official. Now, they're used to it!"

"The level of basketball so far at the Asia Cup has been really high," she said, "These are the top 10 teams in the tournament, and they are all playing at a high level."

After accomplishing nearly everything on a referees radar, Bendke still has a few more accomplishments to check off her list: "I want to referee in the World Championship for Men, and referee Finals for the World Championships!" she said.

The last time we checked in with Ceciline Michael Vino, he had just officiated the biggest game of his career, the Final of the Women's FIBA Asia Championship in 2011. The former All India University Championship player, bailing from Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, has only added to his growing list of referring accomplishments since. In total, he has officiated at two Men's FIBA Asia tournaments and three Women's tournaments in the past.

Being a FIBA referee doesn't only involve staying sharp on court; there is immense responsibility among all FIBA officials to study FIBA's rule changes and live up to the high expectations to keep evolving as the game itself evolves. But Vino said that, with the change in rules, practice makes perfect. "We practice a lot whenever the rules change," he said, "FIBA always announce such changes six months prior, so it's very easy for us to cope with them by the time they are implemented."

"My best experiences so far have really been at the Women's ABC Finals in Tokyo, and the semi-finals of the next tournament in the same category in Bangkok last year," he added.

Indian fans will truly be hoping that their team's Cinderella run continues and they can shock the continent by reaching the Finals in Wuhan. But if they fail on any step of the way, we will be rooting for one (or both?) of our refs to represent us in the biggest game of the tournament.

FIBA forces India's Sikh basketball players to ditch their turbans at Asia Cup

While India's surprising success at the FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan (China) has been a complete team effort, a special nod should be given towards the country's formidable frontcourt, which has perplexed opponents on both ends of the floor so far. India have relied particularly on 6-foot-10 Amrit Pal Singh (23) and 6-foot-8 Amjyot Singh (22), both players who have developed out of Punjab's great basketball academies. The former has been one of the tournament's best defensive players and the latter has been among India's scoring leaders.

Before the tournament began, it was clear that the two players would have to be at the top of their respective games for India to have a chance at defeating some of the more fancied Asian opponents. And yet, when the team took the floor for their first game against Japan on Saturday evening, Amrit Pal and Amjyot were out of the starting lineup.

Their omission had nothing to do with their form, their health, or their behaviour. And it had everything to do with their religion - or, more precisely - on FIBA's misunderstanding of their religious customs.

Amjyot and Amrit Pal are both of the Sikh religion, and for those who may be unaware, it is part of a strict code of conduct for Sikhs to a). not cut their hair and b). keep their hear covered under a turban so it can be in its natural, unaltered state. Like people of any religion or custom, Sikhs can't be generalized and not all of them follow the custom closely. Some cut their hair, some don't wear turbans, while some follow every strict code of conduct by the book. Turban or no turban, millions of Sikhs seem to be getting along around the world just fine - in most cases. Amjyot and Amrit Pal both play basketball with their turbans on; Amrit Pal only began wearing his turban a few years ago, Amjyot has worn it all his life. Both had taken part in various FIBA basketball events at home and abroad and their headgear had presented no issue in the past.

Until Saturday. For the first time, FIBA officials at the Japan-India game decided to invoke FIBA's "No Headgear" rule in an international game. Neither Amjyot and Amrit Pal could start the game, since they both had to scramble to open their turbans and then tie their hair back using a headband of some sort. They finally checked in two minutes later, but the roughly tied hair was uncomfortable for both of them, and additionally, the referees stopped them several times to show if their hair was fine. Both reported after the game that it felt awkward to play this way. India went on to lose that game by 20 points, but there were a variety of other reasons beyond hair-troubles for our top big men that led to that defeat.

Rules are rules, and Article 4.4.2 of FIBA’s Official Basketball Rules states, "Players shall not wear equipment (objects) that may cause injury to other players," a list that includes headgear like turbans, hijab, etc. But India claim that they were misled about the implementation of this rule. A day before the tournament, India's Head Coach Scott Flemming had been given an affirmative from FIBA Asia officials that the Sikhs in his team could keep their turbans on for the game - but before the game itself, the officials changed their minds and disturbed not just the two players in question but also Team India's flow before the game.

"I spent a long time advocating for our players the day before the Japan game and finally thought we got the ok for [them] to wear their turbans," Flemming told me a few days after the incident, "I was then told right before the game there was a misunderstanding on what we agreed to. I again pleaded for our players on this ruling. Finally, the FIBA official made the ruling and we had no choice. I would never make our players do anything they were uncomfortable with according to their religious practices. It was up to them. They both decided to adjust to play in the game. It was disruptive but I thought they both handled it well."

Flemming added, "I am personally against a rule like this that infringes on someones religious beliefs that does not cause any harm to others. [But] it's is a FIBA rule."

A few weeks ago, Habeeba Husain on SLAMOnline.com had argued for the case for allowing hijab for Muslim basketball players, and on the ludicrous notion that FIBA has felt that small pieces of cloth worn to signify religious identity could pose a threat to anyone. One could make the same argument for turbans - they are a part of the lifelong identity and a matter of pride for many of these individuals, and asking them to play without it is not only insulting to them emotionally but also a deterrent to their regular habits of physical comfort.

"We have always played in turbans, even in last year's FIBA Asia Championship in Manila," said Amrit Pal, "But playing in the Japan game without it felt very awkward. I wear a turban in practice, too, and it was strange to not have it on during the game."

Amjyot, who had never experienced playing basketball without his turban, was disturbed, too. "It felt very bad that they did this right before the game, even after our coaches had felt that we had the permission to keep our turbans on," he said, "At least, eventually, they let us fix it with a band, but even that felt very awkward. In the China game, I tied my hair back with rubber-bands to make it hold on tighter. But I find it to be much more comfortable playing with turban, of course - that is part of my habit."

By the time the China game came around, both players had found a temporary fix for their hair, and on-court, they fixed the basketball issues, too. Both of them started: Amjyot was the leading scorer in the game as India defeated China for the first time in its basketball history. Amrit Pal was a beast on the defensive end, and made life extremely uncomfortable for Chinese bigs such as Zhou Qi. A day later, India continued their bright form to blow out Indonesia. They lost to Iran in today's last group stage game, but still qualified for the Quarter-Finals.

Now, India finds itself in the Quarter-Finals with dreams to go even further. And both our big long-haired Sikh superstars will be an integral part of realizing that dream, with or without their turbans.

But more importantly for their culture and for their beliefs, we hope they earn some respect to make the rest of the basketball world realize that it's not Indians' headgear they should fear; it's their game.

UPDATE: Simran Jeet Singh & SALDEF have responded with #LetSikhsPlay campaign. Basketball shouldn't discriminate on basis of harmless cultural insignia like turbans or hijab

Wonder of Wuhan: India should build on historic win over China to spark a basketball revolution

Sometimes, revolutions don't need pomp and noise, or confetti or loud celebrations. Some revolutions aren't greeted with cheering voices or waving flags. Some revolutions happen in stunned silence.

The last five minutes of India's historic first-ever win over China - perhaps the greatest win in 78 years of India's international basketball history - were played under an eerie hush. The game was talking place at the Wuhan Sports Center in Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China. This was the 5th FIBA Asia Cup, a biennial tournament held between 10 of the top teams on the continent. This is a relatively smaller tournament than the more highly-regarded FIBA Asia Basketball Championship (ABC), and the local Chinese fans only filled up a fraction of the 13,000-seat arena in Wuhan's Zhuankou suburb.

The hosts, favourites to win the tournament after winning their first two games and defeating Asian champions Iran in the process, were confident against India. The fans were out with vuvuzelas, balloon clappers, and there were animated MCs and scantily-clad cheerleaders to boost their spirits. Yet, nothing could divert their horrifically stunned attentions away from the upset on court. As the clock ticket away in the game's final minutes and it seemed that India would achieve the impossible, the arena grew quieter. Each squeak of a shoe sole on the polished wooden floor reverberated across the gymnasium. Each word of encouragement from the Indian bench to the heroes on court could be heard by every fan, media-person, and official in attendance.

And in this silence, India found joy: the team nicknamed the 'Young Cagers' - led by Head Coach Scott Flemming - finally grew up, and announced the coming of age of all of Indian Basketball with a memorable win. All the odds had been stacked against India, who are ranked 61st in the FIBA World Basketball rankings compared to China, who are 12th and are tops in Asia. India had lost their first game against Japan a day ago while China were riding a positive streak behind a talented youth movement. Yet, the final score read 65-58 in India's favour, and a milestone for Indian hoops was achieved.

Expectations, as they always are in such high-level Asian tournaments, were low for India. Always the minnows against other giants of the game, India returned without a win at bottom place in the previous iteration of the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo two years ago. In last year's FIBA Asia Championship in the Philippines, India showed some improvement, but were still defeated in blowout fashion against top teams like Iran, Korea, and of course, China, who beat India 79-45, just 11 months ago.

In the world of an Indian basketball follower, low expectations are the norm. We prematurely resign ourselves to embarrassing losses against the Chinas and the Irans of the continent, and hope for the best against teams ranked closer to our stature, like Kazakhstan or Bahrain. Rarely has India's senior men's team won a meaningful game of basketball in the past several decades, a hypnotizing lull of losses upon losses that numbed Indian media and fans into submission to the point of ignorance. China regularly expects to defeat India by 30, 40, or 50 points per contest. Coming into this tournament, India were once again ignored as outsiders with a seventh or eighth place finish (out of 10) as best-case scenario. Apart from the minuscule, almost-irrationally passionate fanbase of Indian basketball, the mainstream continued to not pay the team any attention.

Perhaps this was why, despite qualifying once more for a major Asian FIBA tournament, there were no mainstream media-houses from India covering the event, and the games itself weren't shown on any TV channel back home. China were stumped and India were absent, and, outside of the cheers and hoots from the victorious Indian locker-room, there was nothing but silence.

It was only through the power of the internet live commentary and social media that we were able to get the word out, and once the news leaked, it quickly went viral. Thousands of supporters of the Indian hoops cause were made aware of the news that no other traditional media outlet had covered. The players and the coaches who had made this achievement possible - ironically - couldn't even hear the online applause, finding themselves stuck behind the Great Firewall of China and unable to access the hysteria of Indian fans thousands of miles away.

One of those voices online was of Bobby Sharma, the senior VP of global basketball for IMG Worldwide, the company which, in their partnership with Reliance and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) is hoping to usher in India's first professional basketball league in coming years. Sharma congratulated the BFI by calling this upset a 'monumental watershed moment'. Indeed, the achievements of those 12 men on court and their coaches in one simple game could be the springboard that India needs to finally take that basketball leap we have long been dreaming of.

Indian basketball will always remember the day - July 13, 2014 - that they eclipsed the mighty Chinese. This victory is set to change India's attitude and approach looking forward at all our basketball encounters in the future. If this team indeed has the ability to beat China, then it prepare with a realistic mentality of having a shot in every match-up, against any opponent. There are no reasons to throw in the towel before any game, and every Indian team from here on out should look up at Wonder in Wuhan on July 13 and find the motivation to do it again.

Perhaps, more young Indians back home, disillusioned that the game has no future in India, will start believing in the amazing possibilities of sport once again. The achievements of our best players should inspire countless others to remain geared towards a career in basketball, and motivated to recreate and build upon the success of the current squad.

Perhaps, with increased attention from the Indian mainstream after this victory will shine a spotlight on India's national teams and force our media and our sponsors to acknowledge them. Maybe this leads to greater financial rewards for our players, the majority of whom come from poor families and chose basketball as their only way to a stable job.

This win means a lot many of India's individual players, who are on various points in their careers. Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, India's captain and most consistent performer in recent years will relish this game forever. Pratham Singh was India's fourth-quarter hero, and sank several clutch three-pointers to give India the lead for good. Amjyot Singh played fantastically on both ends of the floor and showed elite athleticism against China's 7-foot-1 prodigy Zhou Qi. Yadwinder Singh, India's energy bar, lifted the team with his hustle on the defensive end. Amrit Pal Singh was a farmer at age 19 when he discovered basketball; just four years later, he was controlling the defensive paint against Chinese bigs. The likes of Joginder Singh, Narendar Grewal, Rikin Pethani, and more in the rotation have etched their names in Indian hoops history forever.

And the man who should be celebrated with special plaudits after this historical night is Head Coach Scott Flemming. After 32 years of coaching experience in the USA, most recently with the NBDL side Texas Legends, Flemming chose a different challenge, coming to India to try and make a difference in a country on the basketball hinterlands. Two years after his appointment, he isn't only the longest-serving foreign coach in India, he is also one of the most successful. Flemming led India to a gold medal victory at the Lusofonia Games this January and a first place finish at the South Asian Basketball Championship. But this was, by far, his biggest win with India.

The FIBA Asia Cup is still in process. India play their third and fourth Preliminary Round games against Indonesia and Iran on Monday and Tuesday respectively. They've almost ensured qualification for the Quarter-Final stage. Coach Flemming has spoken optimistically of India's ability to continue performing basketball miracles.

For now, this victory is a wake-up call for Indian basketball to start believing in its potential. We beat China on the court yesterday, but China basketball are miles ahead in the longer marathon. Our best basketball facility is only as good as 50-60 of what Chinese Tier 2 or Tier 3 cities possess. China's young talents are trained and developed from a young age to maximize their potential. All of the players in China's national team are professionals in the well-established Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). They have developed NBA talent in the past and have the resources to develop more such talent in the future. They have much better coaching down to the grassroots level and have much more money to pump into their various basketball federations. India, meanwhile, have an unbalanced and mostly disorganized grassroots nursing system, don't have the infrastructure to provide our top talents and don't have enough support from the common public that rarely looks beyond cricket (or the FIFA World Cup) when the word 'sport' is uttered. Worst of all, internal politics stunts any real growth and there is rarely any motivations from those who are in the basketball fraternity to rise higher, as many stay content to swivel around in lower mediocrity.

And yet, if India can beat China despite being completely overshadowed across every sphere in the basketball world, imagine what we could do if we actually put in an honest effort to improve hoops in the country, from the grassroots to the top, instead of making the sport into just another way for bureaucrats to enjoy a small morsel of power?

Team India's moment - this Wonder of Wuhan - was a silent revolution indeed; but let's hope that the reaction to this moment is loud, energetic, and points to a brighter future for Indian basketball.

UPDATE: Thanks to FIBA, now we have the entire game tape of India's historic win over China on YouTube. Check it out here: