Hundreds join Indian Basketball Players Association for 'Dribblathon' in New Delhi

Photo credit: Ekalavyas

Imagine the scene in front of one of India's most iconic monuments, the India Gate. Imagine a beautiful clear morning in the nation's capital in New Delhi. Imagine some of the country's most legendary basketball players with young enthusiasts just a day after the National Sports Day at this venue. And finally, imagine hundreds of basketballs being dribbled to showcase that the nation is ready for a hoops revolution.

Now imagine, all those images coming to reality.

On Sunday, August 30, the Indian Basketball Players Association (IBPA) organized the first-ever 'Dribblathon', held between the India Gate and the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi. About 400 basketball players, including former stars, school and college students showed up to participate in the event. The young players dribbled a basketball for about a kilometer to support basketball and drive home the point of healthy living, wrote The Hindu.

Photo credit: Ekalavyas

The event featured Arjuna awardees Surender Khataria, Ajmer Singh, Suman Sharma, former India captains Jayasankar Menon, Shiba Maggon, Divya Singh, Pratima Singh, Prashanti Singh, and other international players like Roopam Mongia, Vidya Ramnarayanan, Balakrishnan, Harish Mayor and Anil Gulati. The Noida-based Dribble Academy also held a dribbling demonstration.

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).

Basketball Federation of India has two opposing executive committees headed to conflict

Sports needs leadership, and leadership - in a democratic system - needs politics. But when politics overshadows the sport it is supposed to be leading, the sport is tarnished.

Several weeks ago, the Basketball Federation of India's (BFI) Secretary-General Ajay Sud resigned from position. Behind him, the BFI divided in disaray, with two separate factions staking claim of authority over leadership of the federation. As the BFI's Annual General Meeting (AGM) loomed, the two factions called two separate meetings last week and selected two separate executive committees to head the BFI. Now, the two teams are likely headed to conflict and a court case.

Last week was the culmination of a tense power struggle which has embroiled the attention of everyone connected with the BFI, with the front-office politics garnering much more attention than actual basketball operations. For the past three weeks senior journalist at The Hindu and Sportstar Kamesh Srinivasan has done a masterful job at reporting this painful hoops theater via his blog. Even as it seemed absurd that the same federation would host two separate meetings with two separate groups of individuals for the same job positions, as the days passed by and various voting members of the BFI pledged their divided loyalties one way or the other, the absurd started to become the reality. Finally, on March 27 and March 28, separate AGMs were held in Bengaluru and Pune respectively and two separate executive committees were selected, each claiming their legal right to the throne.

The BFI is the governing and controlling body of basketball in India, and is responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at all levels. BFI has been involved in conducting camps, clinics, events, and training sessions at its academies for the development of basketball. It is the body responsible for fielding India's national basketball teams. BFI came into being in 1935 and took complete control over Indian basketball in 1950.

On Friday March 27, the BFI faction led by K Govindraj held their AGM in Bengaluru, with the support of outgoing president RS Gill. At this meeting, Govindraj replaced Gill was elected as BFI's president, Teja Singh Dhaliwal was named Senior Vice-President, Chander Mukhi Sharma was named Secretary-General, and V Raghothaman the Treasurer. This meeting abolished the posts of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Deputy CEO, which were previously held by Roopam Sharma and Prem Pal Singh respectively.

Govindraj is a former player and also serves as the secretary of the Karnataka State Basketball Association (KSBBA). While he was selected BFI president in Bengaluru, former president Gill declared that this AGM was held under the ambit of the federation’s constitution. Observers from the Government of India, Government of Karnataka and FIBA Asia kept a close watch. "As per our constitution, only the president can call for a meeting and preside over it, and I was here for today’s meeting and all the other senior office-bearers were present too," Gill said, reported The Hindu. Gill also deemed the second AGM meeting illegal.

On Saturday March 28, the BFI faction led by CEO Roopam Sharma held their AGM in Pune. At this meeting, Poonam Mahajan was named the first-ever woman president of the federation and the youngest president of any sports federation of India, at 34. Sharma was elected as the BFI's Secretary-General, and Mukut Medhi (Secretary of Basketball Association of Assam) was named the new Treasurer.

Mahajan, a politician who is also the BJP national secretary and MP from the Mumbai North-Central Lok Sabha constituency, was also voted unanimously as the Maharashtra State Basketball Association's (MSBA) first woman president a few months ago. According to The Hindu, from the 32 affiliated units of the BFI, 22 took part in the Pune AGM. The daylong meeting was attended by 40 members of the 62 eligible voters. This meeting also had observers from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) (Virendra D Nanavati), Government of India (Virendra Bhandarkar), and FIBA Asia keeping a close watch.

In the spirit of perfect diplomacy, the FIBA Asia overseer at both meetings was the same person: Mageshwaran Saba.

According to 'Team Sharma', some of the voting members at the 'Team Govindraj' meeting in Bengaluru didn't have voting rights while some were from barred units, and therefore, their decisions should not count. Gill refutes this claim. Team Govindraj used the BFI's constitution as well as the government guidelines from the 2011 Sports Code to claim that the CEO has no authority to appoint a returning officer or call a meeting, and thus, the Team Sharma meeting in Pune in itself was illegal. Sharma's CEO position had been created specifically for her husband - Harish Sharma - several years ago, and passed on to her after Harish's death. The position was outside the realms of normal sports federation seats such as Secretary-General, President, or Treasurer, all of which have to be rotated routinely and are part of the democratically voted structure created in Indian sports.

So what happens now?

The New Indian Express wrote yesterday that, with both the sides refusing to back down from their position, the issue may go up to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Senior IOA officials have shown concern at these developments and (quoting The New Indian Express) even said if the issue was not settled, then the matter would end up in court.

Meanwhile, real Indian basketball begun this week, too, with the tip-off of the 2015 Federation Cup in Pune on Sunday, March 29. For now, it is Team Roopam presiding over the tournament. But in the long term, it is clear that this divide is going to break apart Indian basketball operations from the inside, with some of the member states reporting to one side, some to the other, leading to no real resolution.

A court case seems to be the likely scenario, and hopefully, a resolution is reached to determine the true leaders of the federation. Indian basketball has suffered with mismanagement for years, and this conflict threatens to stall progress of hoops in the country even further. For the players, coaches, referees, and fans of the game who care about the sport and not the back-office politics, the hope will be that, whoever wins the legal battle will actually be interested in Indian basketball more than furthering their own political clout.

UPDATE: The Hindu reported today that 'Team Govindraj' has received recognition from FIBA as the office-bearers of the BFI. The Govindraj Group has also changed the 'authorized signatories' of BFI's bank account and has initiated the process to take over BFI's physical office in New Delhi. This is far from the end of the conflict, however, as the matter is slated to be held in the Delhi High Court.

ONGC basketball team shifts base from Dehradun to Chennai, strengthen Tamil Nadu squad

When two of the finest teams in the country face each other, fans expect fireworks. But when the two teams merge into one, it calls for doomsday for every other opponent in the nation. This is exactly what may happen in the foreseeable future for Indian basketball. Tamil Nadu were already the hottest team in Indian hoops after they won the Men's gold medal at the National Championship in Delhi back in March. Now, one of the most talented clubs in India - ONGC - has announced that it will be shifting base from Dehradun to Chennai, which means that Tamil Nadu will be boosted with all the ONGC players who had been representing the state of Uttarakhand until now.

Photo Courtesy: Ekalavyas.com

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation - or ONGC - employ some of India's top players including present and former internationals such as Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Amrit Pal Singh, Yadwinder Singh, Trideep Rai, Murali Krishna and many more. ONGC have won most of the Men's titles in most All India invitational tournaments in recent years and their stars helped guide Uttarakhand to the 2013 National Championship gold, too. Earlier this year, Uttarakhand finished fourth in the Senior Nationals, while Tamil Nadu took home the gold.

The Asian Age recently reported that ONGC - the 2014 Federation Cup champions - will be shifting both their strong basketball and volleyball teams to Chennai, bolstering the national champion Tamil Nadu sides in both squads. According to the report, the players have been ordered to report at the Chennai office on June 13.

Although no players have appeared on record, the report - written by C. Santhosh Kumar - quoted a key member of the ONGC basketball squad who said, "The [ONGC] management always wanted better exposure [for] its team and I reckon it's the reason behind shifting base to Chennai, where basketball and volleyball are more vibrant than Dehradun. Even though talks started a year ago, receiving the order on Tuesday evening was a big surprise."

Tamil Nadu's basketball fraternity will be glad to be spoiled for choice now in choosing their Men's state teams, and it should make for some healthy competition. Currently, the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is the only public sector company in Chennai that regularly recruits players. IOB have done fairly well on the national stage, though, and many of their players were in TN's national winning side. Stars like Rikin Pethani, Pratham Singh, SP Venkatesh, and more will be contending for their spots for Tamil Nadu after their recent successes.

"I understand that the ONGC board has approved the change of base," said L. Suren, Treasurer of the Tamil Nadu Basketball Association (TNBA), "If they come to Chennai, it will create more job opportunities for Tamil Nadu players and help develop the sport here."

But how soon could ONGC players start suiting up for Tamil Nadu? Rules state that a player must reside in a state for at least six months before being eligible to represent it. Suren added that, "in this case, apart from the residential status, the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) can decide straightaway because the entire team will be moving from one place to another."

But not everyone is happy about this move. In a report published on The Hindu today, some of ONGC's basketball players have expressed disappointment over the move from Dehradun to Chennai.

Via The Hindu

Speaking to The Hindu on Thursday, V.K. Mahendru, Head, Corporate Sports (New Delhi) said: “As far as volleyball is concerned we are hopeful that it will be in Chennai, but when it comes to basketball, we are yet to make a call. The final decision will be taken within 10-15 days. Whatever we do, we will do it in the best interest of the team.”
A senior basketball player said most of the players were not happy with the move.
He argued that, with Chennai being home to good teams such as IOB, ICF, Customs and Indian Bank, not many ONGC players will get the chance to represent Tamil Nadu.
“We have two cement courts in our residential colony (in Dehradun). Where will we now practice in Chennai? And the weather too is hot,” he said.
Another player said: “They’ve decided. We have no choice. We have got the orders to join duty in Chennai on June 13 after playing in an all-India tournament in Hyderabad.”
He said the Tamil Nadu team selection will now be tougher with so many good hoopsters.
“While Tamil Nadu basketball team will be very strong, other teams will not be so.”

You can only have 12 players in a team, and the presence of ONGC players fighting for their spot against other IOB/Tamil Nadu players should make for some fascinating competition in the state. Star players will be snubbed, but overall, it could make for one hell of a roster top to bottom for TN. They will become the Indian hoops version of a 'super-team'; and the pressure will be on rivals from Punjab, Services, or Indian Railways to step up a gear. The losers of his move will unfortunately be Uttarakhand, who will be left with little without the ONGC talent and could experience a major drop in national rankings next year.

Kerala High School girl scores all 47 of her team's points

Remember Kobe Bryant's 2005-06 season? How could you forget: the year he averaged 35 points per game and carried a ragtag bunch of Laker teammates to the playoffs. The year where he once averaged over 43 points per game for a whole month, scored 62 points in three quarters versus the Mavericks, and had the legendary 81 point game against the Raptors.

Well, far away from Los Angeles, a 14-year-old High School girl in the city of Kozhikode (otherwise known as Calicut) in Kerala in India has been on a 'similar' scoring tear of her own (this is the most loosely-defined definition of the word 'similar'). Aswathi Jayasankar, who plays for the Kendriya Vidyalaya team, has been carrying her squad with massive scoring nights in a very 2006 Kobe fashion. In the All India Kendriya Vidyalaya tournament last month, she scored 51 of her team's 58 points to lead her team to the championship. Earlier in the same tournament, she had games where she logged 61 of her team's 75 points, and 44 of her team's 50 points.

The 9th grader carried this form into this week's St. Michael's Tournament, where she had 30 of the 37 points and 40 of 44 in separate games.

The inevitable was looming, and then it finally happened on Friday in the Semi-Final of the tournament against against city rivals Providence GHSS. Jayasankar scored all 47 of her team's points, but it still wasn't enough as her squad lost the game 55-47. Yes, she scored ALL the points. Every single jumpshot, every lay-up, every free-throw, every three.

It was a historic moment, even for the 'small-time' world of high school girls' basketball in South India. The Hindu newspaper today had the full coverage of this remarkable feat by writer PK Ajith Kumar:

“In my three decades of following basketball closely, I have never heard of anything like this before,” says K.O. Ommen, a veteran referee and administrator who has probably watched or followed more basketball tournaments than most Keralites. “It’s an amazing feat, no doubt.”

Aswathi says she has been scoring heavily of late because she has been getting to play more tournaments. “Though my teammates don’t score many points, I get excellent support from them,” she says. “I feel my game has improved a lot now.” She has already represented Kerala at the National mini championship and is aiming high. “I want to take up basketball as a career,” she says. Her coach, S. Sreejith says she is one of the best players he has ever come across. “She is an exceptionally talented shooter,” he says. “She has remarkable speed and aggression and will be an even better player when she improves her defence.”

Of course, the youngsters unique Kobe-esque feat also comes with a Kobe-esque asterisk point. Her teammates have been doing their best Smush Parker/Kwame Brown impressions while Jayasankar herself jacks up the shots.

For Indian Girls' high-school competitions, the final scores of these games - between the 40s and the 50s - are actually considered to be high-scoring, which makes Jayasankar's achievement of obviously playing all 40 minutes of all games (although some high school girls' tournaments play 36-minute games) a pretty big deal.

Jayasankar's dominance isn't exactly a novel thing in Indian basketball, particularly at the High School level. It's also not surprising when the star player plays the full game - this happens even when the star player's team is winning or losing in a blowout. That's just the way it is junior level Indian basketball. I've witnessed several games where one player has scored 75 percent or more of their team's entire points. But this is definitely the first time that I've heard of a player scoring all the points. The fact that her team lost shows that the opponents did the right thing in freezing out her teammates just enough. But it seems that in the past this 'strategy' has worked for the Kendriya Vidyalaya side, so it's hard to blame their coach or the player for running with the one-woman show.

I wish all the best to Jayasankar for her future: it sounds like she's a talented young player with a lot of potential. Playing in Kerala, she is also in one of the best environments for basketball in India. Kerala's Girls have been dominating the Junior and Youth basketball divisions in India and have won the majority of the national-level U18 and U16 tournaments that they have participated in. They boast of India's brightest basketball star - Geethu Anna Jose - as well as other strong young players like Jeena PS and Poojamol KS.

Jayasankar has some fine footsteps to follow. Hopefully she can start picking up those assists numbers, too.

American visionaries hoping to strengthen basketball community in India

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Phase 1. Junior basketball training at a school in Secunderabad
Phase 2. ???
Phase 3. Profit

Ok, so it's not exactly Underpants Gnomes Logic, but basketball visionaries Robert Selby and Tanya Parker from the US, have joined hands with the St. Patrick's Academy, a school in Secunderabad, to "broad base what they call the greatest game in the world." According to Parker, the duo has set up a five-year pilot project through which they "hope to build a 100,000-strong basketball community in India."

The duo worked with Bana 'Baba' Ravinder and the children of the St. Patrick's Academy. A. Joseph Antony from The Hindu reports:

Their first day with Ravinder's trainees was an exhilarating experience. “The children were sponges, soaking up whatever we had for them,” said Selby, a product of the Five Star Academy at Honesdale in the mountains of Pennsylvania.
The said institution nurtured the game's greats such as Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Vince Carter among 400 who made it to the fiercely competitive National Basketball Association (NBA) league.
“The body language of the children here bristled with enthusiasm, matched by their willingness to learn, making it obvious that size didn't matter,” Selby noted.
“The girls seemed more thoughtful though,” said Tanya, a teacher turned business woman, who does the marketing, communication and fund-raising for World Class Athletic Development, the firm the duo has set up.

“We want to build a farm system of talent up to the state level and then let it take wing through exchange and training scholarships in line with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) model,” [Selby] added.
“We see our venture as sacred commerce, which benefits people and feeds more energy into the existing structure,” says Tanya.

The duo also hope to hold a residential camp for junior national players from Andhra Pradesh, collaborate with India's very own hoop culture promoters Hoops India, and later attend the junior national championships in Chennai.

Big plans for the duo - hopefully they continue to enjoy the charm of teaching basketball in India.

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