"The Iceman" George Gervin to come to India!

Three things come to my mind when I think George Gervin.


1) The Finger Roll: one of the prettiest moves in basketball, patented and perfected by Gervin.,
2) The Nickname: The Iceman - George Gervin named so for his cool demeanour and cooler game.
3) The Snoop Dogg song 'Hoop Dreams', where the rapper drops the line: "Double G, like George Gervin, cuz I'm so Ice BALLIN!'

Named one of the 50 best player in the NBA in 1997, one of the league's best ever scorers, George Gervin a 6 foot 7 inch shooting guard, who played in the ABA and the NBA from 1973-1986, is set to come to India from February 22 to March 2.


The event is being organised by The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the National Basketball Association (NBA), who announced that they will tip off their 2011 sports envoy program with their first-ever joint trip to India. NBA Hall of Famer George “The Iceman” Gervin and two-time WNBA Champion Katie Smith will visit Mumbai and New Delhi from February 22 to March 2, where they will conduct basketball clinics with Indian youth, meet with university students, and participate in local community events in underserved areas.

Sports diplomacy envoys build on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power diplomacy,” which embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools – in this case the game of basketball – to bring people together and foster greater understanding among people and cultures.


Gervin, a former San Antonio Spur, is a three-time NBA champion and was voted to the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players list in 1996. Smith is a six-time WNBA All-Star for the Washington Mystics.

Gervin's career is highlighted by a legendary battle for the NBA's scoring crown that he had with fellow volume scorer David Thompson in 1978. On the last day of the season, Thompson scored 73 points, Gervin had 63 (including 33 points in the second quarter) and he was able to maintain his higher scoring average.

And if you need a reminder of how good this guy was, YouTube is always here to help...



More info to follow soon...

Western Railway & Chhattisgarh win thrilling final contests to hoist 25th Federation Cup trophy

In a thrilling and memorable conclusion to the 25th IMG-Reliance Federation Cup Basketball Championship for Men and Women in Raipur, Western Railway (Men) and hosts Chhattisgarh (Women) survived late comebacks by their opponents to lift the Federation Cup trophy on Tuesday, February 15th.

After squandering a 14-point half-time lead to a re-energised IOB (Chennai) side, Western Railway found themselves down by one point in the final seconds of the Men’s final. It took late game heroics from Railway’s point guard Arjun Singh ‘Golu’, who hit a drive-in jumper with just three seconds left on the clock to give Western Railway a 75-74 lead and seal an emotional victory for his team.

Behind leading scorer Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (28 points), Western Railway started off the final well, maintaining a good lead over IOB, and went into halftime up by 48-34. But they started to lose their rhythm in the third quarter as IOB began plotting a comeback. Led by the sharpshooting by Mihir Pandey, V. Mathew Revi (16), and the clutch play of international point guard Hareesh Koroth (20), IOB were on fire in the fourth quarter, barely missing a shot, and overturning an eight point deficit with five minutes to go into a one point lead in the dying seconds. It took Arjun’s game-winner in the last seconds to pull off an exciting Railway win.

Earlier in the day, another exciting game took shape in the Women’s final, as high-flying hosts Chhattisgarh took on traditional Indian powerhouse, Southern Railway. To cope with dominating Center Geethu Anna Jose, Chhattisgarh employed a double-team defense of Seema Singh and Jose Jilna. Their tactic worked early on, as Chhattisgarh played their trademark fast-paced game and led comfortably for most of the three quarters.

But Southern Railway began to make a valiant comeback in the final quarter, as Geethu was finally freed up from her shackles and began to find her baskets easily. As Chhattisgarh began to tire, Railway threatened to come back and steal the game away from the hosts. But their attempt was a too little too late, as Chhattisgarh survived to win 76-71. Chhattisgarh’s unstoppable twosome of Anju Lakra (22) and Pushpa M. (21) were once again the best players for their squad, whereas Geethu Anna Jose dropped 22 points for the losing side.

The matches to decide for third-place also took place earlier on Tuesday. After losing to Chhattisgarh in the Semi-Final, Delhi Women bounced back strong against Kerala behind Prashanti Singh (23) and Asha Hedge (18) to win 70-58. Soniya Joy had 16 points for Kerala.

In the Men’s 3rd/4th place match-up, Indian Army defeated ONGC 68-59 to seal third place. Navneet Singh led Army with 20 points and Anoop M. had 16 for ONGC.

At the end of the tournament, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Western Railway) and Prashanti Singh (Delhi) won the Federation Cup’s leading scorer awards.

Final Scores

Men: Western Railway 75 (Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 28, Yadwinder Singh 15) bt. IOB (Chennai) 74 (Hareesh Koroth 20, V Mathew Rewi 16).
Women: Chhattisgarh 76 (Anju Lakra 22, Pushpa M. 21, Seema Singh 13) bt. Southern Railway 71 (Geethu Anna Jose 22, Renjini Peter 15).

Third/Fourth Place Playoffs

Men: Indian Army 68 (Navneet Singh 20, Gopal Ram 13) bt. ONGC 59 (Anoop M. 16, Riyazuddin 15).
Women: Delhi 70 (Prashanti Singh 23, Asha Hedge 18) bt. Kerala 58 (Soniya Joy 16).

Leading Scorers

Men: Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Western Railway)
Women: Prashanti Singh (Delhi)

Final Standings

Men: Western Railway, IOB (Chennai), Indian Army, ONGC
Women: Chhattisgarh, Southern Railway, Delhi, Kerala

Yadwinder Singh: Indian Basketball's Energy Bar

As the opposing team's best player dribbles towards his basket, Yadwinder Singh claps his hands together, almost violently, psyching himself up on defense. With an agile and quick 6 foot 6 inch frame, he is capable of guarding almost anyone, from speedy point guards to powerful, back to the basket post players. Yadwinder stays in front of the attacking player, blocking his vision at the basket. As the player drives in, he is forced to change his shot, which clanks off the side of the rim.

Yadwinder grunts loudly as he grabs the rebounds - it's his and his alone. He passes the ball to one of the guards on hid team and races ahead, beating everyone else on court to get to the opposition's basket. Before anyone else can react, he is in perfect position to receive the ball under the basket and lay it up. A few milliseconds later, he's back at the defensive end, turning passes into turnovers, and defense into offense, as he shows his range by nailing a smooth outside jumper.

There are few players in Indian basketball like Yadwinder Singh, or ‘Yadu', as we know him. A monster at both ends of the floor, Yadu seems to be on a constant energy rush, as if Red Bull has given him the wings to fly and keep flying. Defense to offense to defense and back and over and over again… There seems to be no full stops to his energy, just commas. Even when the game pauses for a free throw, Yadu will be talking, joking, shouting, instructing. Even when he is substituted out of the game, he doesn't stop, keeping his body warm and ready to go back in, jogging, doing push-ups… Constant movement.

I have seen enough NBA basketball to know of one (and only one) NBA comparison that comes to mind as I see Yadu, a Power Forward/Center, run the floor like a guard, defend and score like a big man, and motivate his teammates with an unbelievable rush of electricity and tenacity: Kevin Garnett.

His own motivations on the basketball court match Garnett's too: "I feel like basketball is a game all about the defensive effort," Yadu says, "For all the effort one puts in offense, you have to do double of that on the defensive end."

Yadu's defensive instincts, coupled with his fast-paced style of play, perfectly complement how his teams play. Whether he is representing Punjab, Railways, or India, Yadu believes that the secret to basketball success lies in his pace. "Basketball is one of the fastest games in the world," he says, "And if you aren't going to keep running, then why play it? If my team plays a perfect fast-paced game, we can be unstoppable."

Easily one of the most exciting players to watch in India, Yadu has become an important piece to the Senior National side, as was a starter for the country at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou (China). Compared to many other early starters, Yadu had a late introduction to basketball, a fact that perhaps makes his quick ascension up the game's ranks that much more remarkable.

Yadu, the son of a farmer, hails from a small Punjabi village called Rasulpur Khurd. He was athletically-aligned from a very young age, but there was another sport that he focused on: Discus.

"I used to be a very serious discus thrower in school," he said, "And I took part in several major athletic competitions on Punjab from my school." He was also part of his school's hockey team.

In 2002, not until he was 16 years old, and at that point, stood at 6 foot 3 inches, did he take admission in a school in Amritsar where his coach encouraged him to try basketball. From that point on, Yadu's career took a dramatic upwards swing: he went from the Amritsar team to the Ludhiana Academy and then to the Punjab U17 team, all within a matter of one and a half years. By late 2003, he had his first senior national experience in Cuttack, had played U20 international for India in Kuwait, and participated in the Champions Cup in Malaysia.

The basketball world in India can be thankful that he abandoned his Discus throwing days behind to start throwing the basketball, but it's evident from some of his full-court bullet heaves that the throwing arm still has a lot of juice left in it. "When I look back now, even when I was younger, I used to watch a lot of basketball on TV," he said, "My Dad encouraged me to stay with athletics and discus, but once I crossed over to basketball, it completely consumed me and I didn't have the time to practice any other sport anymore."

Yadu added: "I started to enjoy basketball game a lot. It was a team sport where there was so much interaction with other people. And everything kept coming naturally to me - I kept on getting what I wanted. It was a great feeling to first play for Punjab, and then it became even more amazing to wear an ‘India' jersey for the first time!"

Yadu credits his early coaches for making him work extremely hard, whether it was his Amritsar coach Fateh Chand or Ludhiana's famed basketball trainer, Dr. Subramanyam. "I wanted to learn everything about basketball," and adding a smile, he added, "I stopped paying attention to everything else - including my studies!"

Constantly upbeat, energetic, and light-hearted, Yadu becomes the heart of the any team he joins. His Railways and India teammate Arjun Singh says, "He has incredible energy - and the best thing about his game is that he doesn't back down to anyone, no matter who the opponent is."

Yadu and the rest of the Indian squad faced the toughest of opponents at the Asian Games in November, and although they returned with an unflattering 1-5 record, Yadu took home a lot of positives: in the coaching and in India's potential in Asia. "We had a really good coach in Bill Harris for this tournament," he says, "With a coach like that, if we keep working hard, we can become top four in Asia."

"The future is good," Yadu says, "My dream is to take India to a medal one of the big championships - the Asian Games or the Asian Basketball Championships." The 26th edition of the FIBA Asia Basketball Championship, or the ‘ABC', are set to be held in Wuhan (China) in September this year.

Yadu's optimism off the court, on the future of the game, is as contagious as his optimism on it, where he focuses hard on each defensive assignment, each offensive rebound, and each jump-shot. And if this contagious optimism continues to grow in the hearts of Indian basketball player, we may very well see the day when the Young Cagers make a name for themselves in Asian basketball's biggest stages.

With experience on their side, ONGC aim to win their third straight Federation Cup

One look at the team list for ONGC, and it’s immediately clear that there is something special about this team. Of all the team’s playing at the Federation Cup in Raipur, ONGC might not feature most of the current crop of India’s internationals (that honour goes to Western Railway), or feature some of the game’s exciting youngsters who play for teams like Billai Steel Plant, but they’re a squad blessed with some of the most experienced players in India.

“Our experience is obviously our strongest point,” says ONGC coach Rajendra Singh Rathore, who has been a former Junior and Senior India player himself, “We have a mix of former and current stars who are starring in this championship.”

ONGC feature the likes of Trideep Rai, who was part of India’s recent squad that travelled to Guangzhou (China) for the Asian Games. But along with him are a host of other legends, such as the superstar Riyazuddin, who is attempting a comeback from a serious injury, Mohit Bhandari, Murali Krishna, Anoop, and Sridhar S.

Each of their various weapons bring different things to the game, resulting in a well-assembled fit. The wily point-guard Bhandari orchestrates ONGC’s offense, slashing through defenders to shoot, lay-up, or create great shooting opportunities for his teammates. Riyaz, who is one of the best in the country at creating his own shot, succeeds best when the team begins to play a fast-paced game. Their dominating big men, Murali, Anoop, and Nishant Kumar make it difficult for opponents to out-rebound them. And ONGC turn most to Trideep, their best pure scorer, to make the big shots when most needed.

Still, having perhaps the oldest squad in the tournament doesn’t come without its speed-bumps. Several of the players in ONGC are playing the tournament with niggling injuries. But no obstacle, whether internal or from a foe, has been able to defeat the team’s spirit. Even in the toughest of games, ONGC look calm and assured of themselves, ready to strike when the moment calls for.

Unlike the usual run-and-gun offense applied by most of their opponents, ONGC play a slightly slower inside-outside game, relying on half-court set-ups and their beefy big men to help them control the paint.

Coming into this year’s tournament in Raipur, ONGC are the two-time holding champions of the Federation Cup, after their triumphs at Alwar (Rajasthan) and Rourkella (Orissa) in the previous years. “We have done well in this tournament in the past, and we will do our best to retain it,” said team captain Amit Kumar Singh.

So far, it has been smooth sailing in the Semi-Finals for the squad: ONGC have won all three of their group games, defeating IOB (Chennai) and Billai Steel Plant in close contests, and then blowing past Vijaya Bank for an easy victory on Sunday morning.

Coach Rathore believes that it will be their ability to perform well in the close competitions that will give them a slight edge going further in the tournament. “Our experience will count the most in neck-to-neck games,” he said, “This is when we feel we can perform better.”

Featuring the best amongst the best in the country, there are no easy games in the Federation Cup: but with a squad which has been through so many battles and with so many years of experience under their belt, ONGC are looking hungry to make it a three-peat.

'Trey Allen': Jesus Shuttlesworth makes it 2,561

Life imitates art, and art imitates real life, and round and round we go. A few days ago, a 35-year-old Ray Allen shot two three-pointers - numbers 2,560 and 2,561 - to clinch the record for most 'treys' made in NBA history, going ahead of another legendary shooter, Reggie Miller. And if life and art are indeed so well intertwined, then Ray's success story has been like a movie.

Matter of fact, they did kind of make a movie. Not about him, but starring him. Ray Allen was Jesus Shuttlesworth in 'He Got Game', perhaps the greatest basketball movie ever made (Thanks a lot, Spike Lee). In it, Ray, aka, Jesus (named so after Knick legend Earl 'The Pearl' Monroe, not the Messiah) is a very talented high-school player whose only obstacles are off the court, in terms of a conflicted relationship with his father (Denzel Washington) and a bunch of greedy hands trying to get a share of his success.

The real Ray Allen probably didn't go through such dramatic issues, but his life on the basketball court should be more a documentary and an instructional tape for aspiring basketball players than a Hollywood thriller. Year after year after year, from Milwaukee to Seattle to Boston, Ray Allen kept shooting, kept scoring, and somewhere, between the ages of 21, when he was picked 5th overall in the 1996 draft to 35, when he is having the most efficient season of his career, he figured out the art of consistency.

About two weeks before Ray's historic night in Boston, ESPN's Bill Simmons wrote a well-researched piece about how some of the game's veterans today had found a way to defy the age curve and keep getting better, and he cited the examples of players such as Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Steve Nash, and of course, Ray Ray. After Allen's record breaking night, Celtics coach Doc Rivers hit the nail on the head when he said: "If you’re a young player just look at Ray Allen if you want a long career."

At 35, Allen continues to be the league's model pro. After 12 years of success, Allen finally got his chance at the league's ultimate prize when the Celtics won the NBA trophy in 2008. And then he kept getting better. The Celtics are now amongst the best teams in the league again, and Allen has been their most consistent performer.

Here is the record-breaking three:



Now that he's on top of that three-pointers list with his 2,561st, you can be sure that he'll stay there for quite some time. From the active players in the league, the next highest is Jason Kidd is 1,756 (who won't be catching up because he's damn old and he can't shoot). Peja Stojakovic has 1,723 (too old/washed up to catch up). Chauncey Billups has 1,690, and then you have Rashard Lewis and Jason Terry. Simply put, the record is safe with Ray for quite some time now.

Now, if you haven't really seen him play, it might be easy to pigeonhole Allen as a one-dimensional player: someone who shoots the three really well and that's that. But watching Ray Allen is a whole different story: from coming off screens perfectly, attacking the basket, running the floor, and of course, being a feared pest on defense, Allen has a variety of skills in his arsenal to offset opponents. There are few players you would choose over Ray Allen to take that game-winning shot. It's no surprise that he was once again named in this year's All Star Team.

He is also, along with the likes of Kobe Bryant and Gilbert Arenas, known as one of the hardest workers in the NBA. Dig a little deeper into Mr. Shuttlesworth's story and you'll find inspirational stories and hours of practice that he's put in into perfecting that jump shot.

But it still comes back to the shooting. Allen has perhaps the prettiest looking jump shot I have ever seen EVER (I'll give Steve Nash second place here). He is already in the pantheon amongst some of the greatest shooters to ever play the game of basketball, but is he best pure shooter ever? Is he better than Reggie Miller, Larry Bird, Jerry West, Chris Mullin, or Steve Nash?

That is a question I will leave for you to answer. For now, I will go back to 'He Got Game' to share my favourite Ray Allen story. If you've seen the movie, you'll remember that in the climatic scene, Allen and Denzel Washington face each other for a one-on-one game to decide the film's resolution. The director decided that instead of scripting the match-up, he will just led the two play naturally and film the scene as it is. The only thing for certain was that Allen was supposed to win: how he would win was left to the actor/player.

So what happened next? Washington surprised the young Allen, scoring four early points on him. Facing potential embarrassment in losing to an actor, Ray angrily stepped his game up, killing Washington from all ends of the floor. Within minutes the game was done, and the real life/reel life confusion created for one hell of a dramatic scene.

Art can imitate life all it wants, but as long as Trey Allen is in control, you know he'll continue to script the rest of his own Hollywood story.

Hoops DNA: Shireen Limaye follows her mother's footsteps to basketball stardom

Nature or Nurture? It has been an age-old argument: are an individual’s personality and skills developed by their DNA, or are they developed by the way in which the individual is raised? Or to put it simply: Are we born the way we are, or do we become who we are because of the environment around us?

It’s a complicated debate with possibly no absolute answer: every individual seems to be influenced by a little bit of both.

Shireen Limaye, Maharashtra’s budding hoops star, is probably not going to be any help in solving the debate either. See, Shireen is lucky to have the best of both worlds: She’s got hoops in her DNA, as her mother, Suvarna Limaye, is a former player National level basketball player. But Shireen has also been nurtured to become the best player she can be, playing basketball under her mother’s coaching from when she was just five years old.

The fruits of her nature and nurture are now developing into an exciting final product. If you read this before Sunday, Shireen would still be 15-years-old. She turns 16 on February 13th, and at her young age, she has already charted great peaks. She is currently part of Maharashtra’s Federation Cup squad, as she is one of the youngest, if not the youngest participants at this ongoing championship in Raipur (Chhattisgar). She got her first senior call-up for Maharashtra at the Sr. Nationals in Delhi last month, and a confident showing proved that she could hang tough even with women twice her age.

“Of course, the first time I took the court as a Senior player, I felt a lot of pressure going against the best,” Shireen admits, “But at the same time I felt very proud to be there.”

Shireen’s mother, Suvarna, says that Shireen has grown up around the game. Suvarna, who is a coach in Pune, says that she used to carry Shireen on the court since she was just six months old! Shireen began training under her mother, and by age nine, she became the youngest to represent the Pune district in the U13 tournament.

“In a way, it was really easy to work with Shireen,” says Suvarna, her mother and her coach, “She has basketball in her genes! But also because she is incredibly passionate about learning the game.”

Shireen has much more than her mother’s basketball skills in her genes: her father, Vijay Limaye, has been a National-Level swimmer; her elder brother, Animish Limaye, has represented India’s U17 basketball side.

With this sporting background, Shireen had no trouble thriving in an environment where she was encouraged to play the sport she loved. Her high-point came when she represented the Indian Youth Team at the Youth Asian Basketball Championships, which were held in Pune in August 2009.

But she had a curious change of course since: Shireen got an interesting offer to change sports for a little while and represent India in the Netball tournament held at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She practiced for a year with the new Netball team, before getting a chance to represent the country in Delhi, but this time, in a different sport.

“It was strange for me to switch to Netball at first, and the first two weeks it took some time to adjust but after that I got a grip of it,” said Shireen, “When we finally got to Delhi, it was great! We had a cheering Indian crowd behind us to make a good atmosphere.”

It took another brave, sudden transition in sports for Shireen again: The Commonwealth Games, where she represented India in Netball, lasted from October 3-14, 2010. 10 days later, Shireen joined the Maharashtra Junior Basketball Team that played at the Junior National Championships in Vashi. Along with other young stars in the team, Shireen helped Maharashtra ride the home support to reach the final of the tournament before they lost to Kerala.

“The transition between sports, I admit, was pathetic!” Shireen exclaimed, “But I had to manage.”

She also vehemently denies any further calling towards Netball. “I will always pick basketball! I don’t think Netball will have a future for me!”

As long as she can keep honing her skills, Shireen is sure to have an improving future in the game. She plays a versatile game, switching between guard and forward positions with ease. At 5”10, she is taller than most girls she competes with at her position, and with good ball-handling skills, she is looking to perfect her point-guard game which will allow her to overpower smaller opponents. She has also learnt from watching her mother play: “My mother had really good pivot moves in the post, something that she worked on with me and I have been able to pick up.”

With a lot of potential waiting ahead, Shireen is ambitious about her future.“After I finish my 10th Boards, I want to go to America to study,” she says, “In five years, I wish to see myself in the WNBA.”

Blessed with the perfect blend of nature and nurture, Shireen has little reason to doubt her dreams!

With Chhattisgarh's first indoor stadium, Raipur bids to enter the Basketball world

There is one side of India that the world knows well and recognizes. This is the side that features the wide roads and super-fast Metro trains in New Delhi, or the Bollywood stories and the glamour from Mumbai, or the burgeoning IT/BPO spheres in cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore.

But then there is another India, which houses the large majority of the Indian people, and which has overseen a quiet but incredible economical surge. This is Middle India: the bread-basket from where we get our people, our rice, and one of our most valuable produces, Iron.

And a little left to the middle of Middle India is the state of Chhattisgarh. Formed from separation off of Madhya Pradesh 11 years ago, the state of Chhattisgarh has had an accelerated rise in its economical profile. Once the country’s major agricultural processing centre, Chhattisgarh’s capital city of Raipur has now evolved into a commercial hub for coal, power, steel, and aluminum industries. There are hundreds and hundreds of steel rolling mills and iron and steel plants around this growing city.

As a state, Chhattisgarh has also made its mark felt in the sports sector, and especially in the world of Indian basketball. For the past decade since the new state’s Chhattisgarh Pradesh Basketball Association (CGPBA) became affiliated to the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the state has been basketball’s best kept secret.

The state team is collected, trained, formed, and housed in and around the city of Bhilai: the Bhilai Steel Plant has had a major influence in shaping the face of basketball in the state. But in the state’s capital city of Raipur, though, the step towards basketball seemed a long way away.

But it seems that things have turned a corner for this city: A little more than a week ago, on the 3rd of February, Chhattisgarh’s first indoor stadium, built by the city’s municipal corporation, was inaugurated in Raipur. Within a week, the brand new Budhatalab Indoor Stadium in Raipur was ready to be tested. For the first time, the city of Raipur is playing host to a national level basketball championship, as the 25th IMG-Reliance Federation Cup National Basketball Championship tipped off at the stadium on Feb 10th. For six days, the best teams and players in the country will be competing for this prestigious championship, and they will be competing in Raipur.

“It feels great to finally have a top quality indoor stadium in the state,” said Rajesh Patel, the honorary secretary of the CGPBA and one of the most dedicated coaches and talent scouts in the country, “Chhattisgarh has performed well over the years just by practicing on the outdoor courts. Now with better infrastructure, we hope that it will translate to more success for our teams.”

The new stadium had an inauspicious start: According to Patel planning and work began 15 years ago, but was stalled in the middle due to several complications. A year ago, it was picked up by the city again, and was finally completed in time for this tournament.

Apart from basketball, the stadium also has facilities for other indoor sports like Handball, Volleyball, Table Tennis, and Badminton. It can fit a maximum audience capacity of 5,000.

Earlier, Bhilai had played host to three major basketball nationals, but none of them were Senior events: the Junior championship in 2001, Sub-Junior championship in 2005, and Youth championship in 2008. Patel added that, now equipped with this indoor stadium, the next step would be to bring the Senior National Championship to Chhattisgarh and to Raipur.

“We would also like to hold Indian national team camps here in the future,” Patel added.

And another thing that Patel and the rest of the Chhattisgarh will be hoping is that through these efforts, the city of Raipur, which has so far been a relative stranger to basketball, begins to morph into a city with a healthy basketball culture. “This city still doesn’t have an official basketball coach for this court who will help guide young players,” Patel said, “Of course, there are good basketball players from here who have developed their game in Bhilai and even made it to the national level, but now we need more players to develop from Raipur itself. The talent is here, and so is the infrastructure, all that is needed now is the right kind of guidance.”

After the Federation Cup’s inauguration ceremony on Thursday night, the Chhattisgarh Girls’ team put on a resounding show of confidence in front of the state’s Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh on their first official game on this new court. Chhattisgarh defeated Tamil Nadu by an easy 30 points, after which the team’s captain Anju Lakra seemed more than happy with the new setting for basketball.

“Early on, we thought that this court was going to be different,” Anju admitted, “But as we got into the flow of the game, we started to enjoy playing there. And since we won the game, the court also won our hearts!”

It might just be the first of many crucial steps, but Chhattisgarh’s basketball fraternity will be hoping that the game can win over the hearts of the city, so that one day the city known for its coal, iron and agriculture will be known for its bouncing rubber balls, too!