The Sports-India Community

Yes, got it. The point is why couldn't we have it in India too? Is it because we were never "imperalized?"

Our favorite sport just got a professional league (despite roars overs match fixing) .... basketball is too down the alley... maybe in 10 years

Atithee wrote:Yes, got it. The point is why couldn't we have it in India too? Is it because we were never "imperalized?"

I suppose basketball is to the Philippines what cricket is to India -- although the US ruled the Philippines (formally) only for 47 years, while the Brits ruled India (or atleast the east and south) for closer to 200 years.

From that standpoint, losing to the Filipinos at basketball may not be a complete disgrace (especially after beating China in the same tournament...). But our lack of progress in virtually all sports is inexcusable. I seem to recall that, even at basketball, we were closer to the top 4-5 in Asia three or four decades ago -- with a tall player called Sunil Panda leading the way -- so to be satisfied with being around 8th place in Asia now is unacceptable.

Big moment for Indian basketball as Satnam Singh became the first Indian player to be drafted by NBA.

These are a couple of nice articles about Satnam-

Satnam Singh Bhamara: Meet the first NBA player from India

One Giant Leap for India

Its a publicity / marketing stunt by Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks. No one expects him to actually play in the NBA.

Yes,it looks that way. But at least it has got a lot of space in Indian newspapers to basketball as never before. Hope that helps Indian basketball grow

28th FIBA Asia Championship is underway. India won first match against Malaysia and lost to Iran in Second match. However moved to second round. It will be difficult from here, as it will be against good Asian teams. Winner of the tournament gets Olympic ticket and next 3 gets selected for Olympic qualification tournament. Would be challenging to get into top 4.

India moved to Quarter final stages,which is well above their ratings and past performance in FIBA Asia Championship. They are meeting China in QF. If they can win here, they have chance to make it to Olympic qualification tournament. But winning here is unlikely. Hope ranking goes up based on this tournament result

After 12 yrs we get qualified for the quarters ... Terrific to see our boys r improving ... As Dinkaran said that it will be Hercules task to beat China but still we r showing improvement is a good sign.

jaydeep

Truly a good showing from our team to make it to the quarterfinals. I hope this spurs more kids to take up basketball. However, a more systematic development programme might be needed for us to get to the top 4 at the Asian level.

@jaydeep It is " a Herculean* task".

suresh wrote:@jaydeep It is " a Herculean* task".

Thanks Suresh ...

As expected, India lost QF against China and will play against South Korea for 5 - 8 classification. One good thing is Amjyot Singh is leading scorer per match. Hope we finish in creditable note

Lost both classification matches and ended in 8th place. Expected to improvement in ranking...

FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 in Tehran, Iran from 9-18 September

India (Rank#53) is in Group B with Philippines (Rank#28) and TPE (Rank#48).

Schedule - Group B

Sep 9: Philippines (Rank#28) Vs India (Rank#53)
Sep 10: TPE (Rank#48) Vs India (Rank#53)
Sep 11: Philippines (Rank#28) Vs TPE (Rank#48)

Source: http://www.fiba.com/asia/challenge/2016 ... ab=round_1

Sep 9: Philippines (Rank#28) l India (Rank#53) 83-91

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdWvVSF ... e=youtu.be

Good win against the higher ranked team