In a repeat of 2014, the senior Indian men's team beats heavyweights China 70-64, to inch closer to a quarterfinals spot with a game against Kazakhstan remaining.
New Delhi/Bengaluru, 13th September 2016: Second round action of the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 continued today at the Twelve Thousand People Sport Hall, Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran, Iran. Led by captain centre Amritpal Singh, the Indian men's team stunned Group E leaders China 70-64 earlier today, to inch closer to a quarterfinals spot.
Coming into this match, India had lost 2 straight games, against Chinese Taipei in round 1, and its initial second round match against Jordan yesterday. China though had an unblemished 3-0 record and looked to keep it that way as it led 27-18 halfway through the second quarter. Fighting Back
But suddenly, India came alive, with the defensive brilliance of its frontcourt of Amjyot Singh and Amritpal Singh sparking a 13-2 run to close out the period with a slender 31-29 lead.
In the second half, captain centre Amritpal Singh came into his own, bulldozing his way into the paint, to score 8 points within the first 3:30 mins. It was China's turn now to feel the heat, as the pressure mounted on the relatively younger side (average age 22 yrs as against India's 24 yrs). The error prone China had 22 turnovers and virtually gave up the interior to India. Pounding on the boards, India had 19 offensive rebounds which contributed to 18 second chance points.
India now led 51-45 to end the third quarter, and a repeat of its path breaking upset from 2014 seemed well on the cards. However, the Young Cagers were faced with a perplexing dilemma of their own. Two of its Big Three of Amjyot and Amritpal were on four fouls each, but Head Coach Sat Prakash Yadav chose to keep them on the floor. China showed better aggression to begin Q4, as India's once 11 point lead late in the third quarter was cut down to just 4, 53-49. India's bench steps up
With Amjyot and Amritpal having to go passive in a bid to avoid getting fouled out, veteran guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi managed the clock perfectly, to give India quality possessions on offense. But the dagger was provided by none other than Amritpal who stripped his rival Chinese centre off the ball, and threw down a monstrous dunk to get India back up by 6 pts, 55-49 with 7:50 left in the game.
Amjyot had already fouled out by then and Amritpal soon followed. Suddenly, with 5 minutes left India was faced with the daunting prospect of protecting a 9 point lead (60-51) with its starting frontcourt consigned to the bench. Admirably, the backup forwards of Rikin Pethani and Ravi Bhardwaj showed excellent composure on both ends of the floor to ensure India's memorable 70-64 victory.
Aggression to the fore
According to Bhriguvanshi and Head Coach Sat Prakash Yadav, defence was heavily emphasized. 'Overall it was a team effort and they played as well as they did at the practice sessions at NITTE Campus. We worked on defence and this gave my boys more confidence on offense. Our strategy was to pressure the ball man and not let the first receiver receive the pass easily,' said Yadav.
Bhriguvanshi also echoed that sentiment, 'We just thought, let's play good defence. It was a great game by the team and I can really say that we played a perfect team game.'
'As we planned right from the beginning, we played great half court pressure defence. Our team did not allow China to receive the ball in the shooting range, so they were forced to attempt low percentage shots from farther out,' said assistant coach CV Sunny.
The numbers back up their statements, as India had more steals (11-6), blocks (4-1) and rebounds (45-37). Much of this can be credited to centre Amritpal Singh, who averaged his third straight double double of the tournament.
No doubt this is a massive upset, with China ranked 14th in the world compared to India's 53. But it is to be remembered that like Philippines, another much higher ranked team upset by India earlier in this tournament, China too has sent a younger unit. Only one Chinese player - centre Yuchen Zou - has been retained from its 2016 Olympic squad. Notably, China's two NBA level starting forwards Yi Jianlian (Los Angeles Lakers) and Zhou Qi (Houston Rockets) are absent from the side.
That said, it could equally be argued that India too has been missing the likes of centre Satnam Singh and power forward Palpreet Singh. The former is currently with NBA D League side Texas Legends, while the latter is at present trying out for the D League. Additionally, it must be emphasized that the average age of the Indian squad itself is just 24, meaning that the core will remain largely intact for the next few years.
Despite the result, China stays on top of Group E. India on the other hand has temporarily climbed up to the 3rd spot. India takes on bottom placed Kazakhstan tomorrow from 5pm onwards in its final second round game. A win will guarantee a spot in the quarterfinals, while a loss could still see it through provided Jordan beats Philippines in their final head to head tomorrow morning.
Results on 13/9/2016 India (Amritpal Singh 23 pts 14 reb 3 blk 3 stl, Amjyot Singh 16 pts 8 reb, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi 15 pts 6 ast 3 stl) bt China (Jinqiu Hu 19 pts, Tianju He 12 pts) 70-64 [14-17, 17-12, 20-16, 19-19]
Vigor's Scotland remain unbeaten at Commonwealth Games - 17 days ago
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Michael Vigor (206-F/C-90) had 13 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to help Scotland to a 96-81 victory over India at the Commonwealth Games. Scotland join Coach Kapoulas' England side in the qualifying finals with a perfect 3-0 record. Michael Vigor was subbed into the game just four minutes into the opening period and made an instant impact, scoring a mid-range two, before sinking the three to level the game at 15 points apiece midway through the first. Jonathan Bunyan (182-PG-92) a... [read more]
Michael Vigor (206-F/C-90) had 13 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to help Scotland to a 96-81 victory over India at the Commonwealth Games. Scotland join Coach Kapoulas' England side in the qualifying finals with a perfect 3-0 record. Michael Vigor was subbed into the game just four minutes into the opening period and made an instant impact, scoring a mid-range two, before sinking the three to level the game at 15 points apiece midway through the first. Jonathan Bunyan (182-PG-92) and Sean Nealon-Lino (193-G-99) combined for 16 points the opening quarter, Scotland had opened up a seven point lead heading into the second, 33-26. India were able to narrow the gap to just four points to force Rob Beveridge to call for time, his team leading 37-33. Michael Vigor found Ali Fraser for the baseline jump shot before crashing the offensive glass to extend Scotland's lead to eight, 35-43. Fraser flushed it home on the fast break to give Scotland a 49-41 lead heading into the locker room at the break. Having used the bench for the majority of the first half, Rob Beveridge reverted back to his starting line-up to open the second half. Kieran Achara opened the scoring in the with a nice pump fake and finish to restore Scotland's ten point lead, before a pair of threes from Achara and Murray pushed the lead out to 16 points. 57-41 Fraser received treatment following an elbow to the face, but the delay in play didn't halt Scotland's momentum. Achara stretched the lead to 20 points with four minutes to play in the third 65-45. Scotland outscored India 29 points to 11 in the third period before 17-year-old Callan Low (185-G-00) made the baseline three to extend the lead, 78-52 heading into the fourth. Michael Vigor was re-introduced to the game midway through the fourth and made a tough fadeaway jump shot at the shot clock expired to put Scotland ahead 91-75. The Flyers captain completed his double-double in the final minute of the game as Scotland cruised to victory. Courtesy of: bristolflyers.co.uk
CWG 2018: India lose to Cameroon on opening day - 20 days ago
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Cameroon made an astonishing comeback to outplay India 96-87 in men's preliminary round Pool B basketball match while Indian eves also suffered a loss 57-66 to Jamaica in the opening day of the Commonwealth Games here on Thursday. After scoring 27 points in the first quarter and then 36 in the second quarter, India only accumulated 24 in the entire second half against Cameroon. At one point India were leading by 24 points but an impressive game from Arnold Akola (21 points) and Robert Son... [read more]
Cameroon made an astonishing comeback to outplay India 96-87 in men's preliminary round Pool B basketball match while Indian eves also suffered a loss 57-66 to Jamaica in the opening day of the Commonwealth Games here on Thursday. After scoring 27 points in the first quarter and then 36 in the second quarter, India only accumulated 24 in the entire second half against Cameroon. At one point India were leading by 24 points but an impressive game from Arnold Akola (21 points) and Robert Songolo (190-G-94, college: MSU Moorhead) (17 points) saw a comeback from Cameroon. For India, Amjyot Singh (203-F-92) scored 23 points while Justin Selvaraj and Joginder Singh (175-G-88) scored 14 points. Aravind Annadurai (200-PF-93) scored 15. Coming into the match, India started off perfectly, pressing the defence. Starting with star players Amjyot and Satnam Singh (218-C-95) in the playing five, India took full advantage for it. Soon they managed to take the healthy lead of 12 points and maintained it through the quarter. The second quarter saw some brilliant attacking from forwards Gill and Annadurai. Apart from them, guards Justin Joseph and Joginder Singh also combined for 25 points. At the halftime India carried a 24 point lead (63-39) with the 26-year-old Gill scoring 14 points to lead the chart. Till that time centre player Satnam Singh was not at his scoring best as he only managed to score five points. India begin the second half in a more attacking way, by netting a three-pointer within few seconds. But soon after that, Cameroon went on a 10-2 run as they managed to cut the lead of 16 points making it 54-70. At the end of the third quarter, Cameroon outscored India completely by some attacking game-led by Akola. India, on the other hand felt the pressure but somehow kept the opponents at bay, keeping 14 points lead. Cameroon kept the momentum in the fourth quarter by bringing the gap down to just seven points (76-83). And towards the middle they made a supereb comeback and took one point lead (84-83) and then made 91-85 thanks to Kome and Songolo. After that Cameroon never looked back and swelled their overall lead with each minute passing to clinch the game. India now have to win their both remaining matches if they want to advance to the next round. Courtesy of: indiatimes.com
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