Hoopdarshan Episode 88: Kobe Bryant + India's internationally-acclaimed FIBA official, Norman Isaac

We start off this episode with a lengthy discussion on life, legacy, and untimely death of the late, great Kobe Bryant.

In episode 88 of Hoopdarshan, we welcome Norman Isaac, India's own FIBA Technical Delegate and Commissioner who has officiated high-level international matches for decades, including the recent FIBA World Cup Final in Beijing. Isaac speaks to co-hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok about working a big event like the World Cup, the evolution of international basketball officiating over the years, how to improve the status of Indian basketball, and his own playing days for Andhra Pradesh.

In 2017, Isaac became the first-ever Indian to be named a FIBA Technical Delegate. He has served as FIBA Commissioner in numerous international basketball events, including the World Cup, FIBA Qualifiers and the FIBA Asia Cup. Originally from Hyderabad, he has been a referee for nearly 20 years and was appointment as chairman of BFI’s Technical Commission in 2015.



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.

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43rd Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship to tip off in Hyderabad on Saturday

Telangana might be India's "newest" state politically, but the region, as part of Andhra Pradesh has long been one of simmering hotbeds of Indian basketball. Now, the relatively-new Telangana Basketball Association (TBA) get a chance to showcase their refreshed strength: tipping off on Saturday, October 1, the TBA and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) will host the 43rd Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls in Hyderabad. The week-long tournament will be held at the Sports Authority of Telangana (SATS) Indoor Stadium in Saroornagar until October 7th.

The Sub-Junior Nationals, sponsored this year by Arise Steel are India's youngest ational basketball tournament and are popularly referred to as the "Minis". Featuring players of the under-14 age group, this year a total of 47 combined teams in both the boys' and girls' divisions representing states from all over India will be taking part.

This will be the first National level basketball tournament in Hyderabad in 13 years. As many as 22 matches per day will be played on a league cum knockout basis inside the two indoor courts within the stadium complex. While the Championship will tip off on the morning of 1st October itself, the opening ceremony will be held later in the afternoon from 4 pm onwards. Bandaru Dattatraya, Union Minister for Labour and Employment will be the chief guest of the occasion. Other guests of honour will be G Kishan Reddy (MLA and Floor Leader, BJLP Telangana), A Dinakar Babu (IAS, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Sports Authority of Telangana) and Aadhav Arjuna, Managing Director, Arise Industries and Agency Private Ltd.

Madhya Pradesh (Boys) and Chhattisgarh (Girls) are the defending champions of this tournament from the 42nd edition held in Puducherry earlier this February. Other teams to watch out for this year will include Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh in the boys' division while Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra among the girls. Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, states that share Hyderabad as their capital, will be looking for home support to propel themselves higher this week.

Participating teams in the 43rd Sub-Junior National Basketball Championship

Boys

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

Girls

• Group A: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan
• Group B: Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana
• Group C: Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh
• Group D: West Bengal, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir
• Group E: Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand
• Group F: Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand

You can find the full schedule of games along with technical information via the Basketball Federation of India here.

One unique rule only for the Sub-Junior level is that no player can play for more than three quarters in a game, and 10 out of 12 members in each team must play for at least 10 minutes in each match. This rule is to ensure competitive exposure to maximum number of players.

"I would like to thank our title sponsors Arise Steel for making this event possible, and for their continued patronage towards Indian basketball. The stadium is fully ready and we have arranged for accommodation, travel and food for all the participating teams and officials," said Mr Norman Isaac, BFI executive committee member and General Secretary of the TBA.

Basketball Federation of India to implement Instant Replay System

India's FIBA Commissioner and experienced referee Norman Isaac told The Hindu's A. Joseph Antony a few days ago of the Basketball Federation of India's (BFI) plans to implement an Instant Replay System (IRS) - like the DRS in Cricket or Goal-Line Technology in Football - to eliminate human error from officiating in the game of basketball. The IRS will use more enhanced technology than ever before to ease the work of referees and officials at major Indian basketball games.

Around the world, technology has begun to aide decision-making and reduce human error in sports. Recently, the NBA even launched a special Replay Center to Secaucus which uses high-definition cameras to aide the decisions of referees on the ground itself.

The IRS was first introduced to Indian players and coaches through a clinic at last year's Senior National Basketball Championship in Bhilwara, Rajasthan. "This was to enable players and officials from all states assembled for the country’s premier event learn the latest rules and avoid their misinterpretation," Isaac, who is also the chairman of the BFI's Technical Commission, told The Hindu.

More from The Hindu's report

It works as follows: An IRS official, sometimes seated with table officials, monitors the action based on live footage from six cameras set up at strategic locations around and above the court. Replay reviews are conducted after gathering as much information as possible from valid sources. While decision-making will be collective, powers are vested with the referee to deliver the verdict.
Whether a review is required in the first place will be his choice. The revaluation must be conducted as fast as possible, during which no unauthorised person must have access to the IRS Visual Display Unit. After the assessment, the referee shall make known his decision in front of the scorer’s table, which, if necessary, will be communicated to the two teams’ coaches.
In case of disagreement, the referee may consult the umpire(s), table officials and the commissioner, if he is present, to take a final decision.

In FIBA’s constant quest to keep pace with the changing times, this innovation will have far reaching implications. The review process will extend to a) end of period or extra period, b) last two minutes of the fourth quarter or extra period, c) any given time during the contest.
To find out whether a field goal attempt is successful, a check is made on whether the ball is released before any foul is called, or game or shot clock signals are sounded. The vigil will also be on violations concerning the shot clock, the eight-second limit and the area of play.
Also under IRS purview will be whether a field goal was a two or three-pointer, who the last player was to cause the ball to go out of bounds, identifying the correct free throw shooter and those involved in fights or leaving the bench area, and the appropriate penalty to be handed out. It will also ensure the main game clock does not stop after the officials blow the whistle, and it does not start running before the ball is in play to define how much time actually expired and how much remains in the period.

Any one who has ever played in local level (and often, even national level) tournaments in India has at some point suffered an unfair decision at the hands of referees. Often, those decisions are clear human errors: the referees can't see and hear everything on a busy basketball court perfectly at all times and must make many decisions on limited knowledge and instinct. But sometimes, a pre-game agenda to favour a certain team (through favour or threat) leads some referees to make questionable decisions, too. The new IRS should help enhance the physical short-comings of the refs and keep them honest in case of any purposeful wrongdoing with visual evidence of the play.

There was no indication of how soon the new system will begin to effect basketball tournaments in India, but we hope that they are ready by this year's Senior Nationals (likely to fall in December).

Danapal Veerasamy Ponniah successfully qualifies to become India’s 3rd FIBA Commissioner

Danapal Veerasamy Ponniah, who has been a national referee in India since 1986 and an influential force in Tamil Nadu basketball, has successfully qualified as an International Commissioner for FIBA on May 10th, 2011 after a FIBA-Asia Clinic for Commissioners Candidates in Erbil (Iraq) from May 3-5. Ponniah is only the third International FIBA Commissioner from India.

“This is a lifetime dream come true for me,” said Ponniah, “Now, I have to be ready to be called upon for any FIBA event. I am honoured and I will do my best.”

There are 37 FIBA commissioners from Asia. Ponniah joins Naresh Chander Aneja and Norman Swaroop Isaaac as the only three from India.

“My name was recommended for candidacy after my work as a national referee and as a referee, commissioner, and coach for the Tamil Nadu Basketball Association (TNBA),” Ponniah added, “A test was held to test the chosen candidates who have all been associated with international FIBA activity.”

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is an association of national organizations which governs international competition in basketball.