India could be the surprise of 2015

MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on my Mind) - It was no surprise that two traditional Asian powerhouses came out with the two biggest trophies in the continent's biggest basketball tournaments last year. Iran pocketed the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup, winning six of its seven games (the lone loss was to host, China), while Korea went undefeated in seven games to claim the 2014 Asian Games crown.

Without a doubt, both countries are expected to be strong contenders at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, the golden prize of which is automatic qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

One team that shouldn't be overlooked, however, is India, which broke out in a big way in 2014.

India has always been a strange bedfellow of basketball. In some way, it has the perfect foundation to be a hotbed of hoops, what with the second biggest population in the world, a steady of supply of tall athletes, and, just recently, a deepened connection with the NBA. The country's men's national team has had brief flirtations with relevancy in the sport, dating back to its playing in the 1980 Olympics and beating Korea 81-76 in the 2004 FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup (former star player Sozhasingarayer Robinson went for 36 points in that game), but it has never really been able to shock anybody ever since.

That is, until last year, when they were at their most competitive at the FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China. In that joust, the Indians, under the leadership of former NBA D-League assistant coach Scott Flemming, gave a jolt to the entire FIBA Asia community when they upset the Chinese, 65-58, on their own home floor. As far as I can remember, this was the first time India beat China at this level, and it certainly gave the rest of the teams in the tournament a wake-up call. This Indian team could no longer be regarded as pretenders. Almost overnight, because of that landmark result, coach Flemming's boys became dark horse contenders.

The surprises didn't end there, though, as India gave other Asian giants like Iran, the Philippines, and Jordan everything they could handle. Before falling to the Iranians, 62-49, India mounted a tough stand in the face of the defending champions, even leading at halftime, 29-26. Against the Filipinos, who, like Iran, were bound for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, the Indians stormed back from 13 points down in the fourth period to give their much ballyhooed foes a real scare in a 70-66 defeat. In its penultimate contest against Jordan, which was reinforced by naturalized player Rasheim Wright, Team India also impressed, leading again at halftime before the Jordanians leaned on a big second half to snare the victory, 69-65.

Another huge triumph came India's way at the Asian Games, when they dealt Kazakhstan an unexpected shellacking, 80-61, behind the superb shooting of Joginder Singh, who hit seven three-pointers on his way to 25 points.

All these wins and morale-boosting victories should serve India well heading into the major competitions of 2015. They are expected to dominate the South Asia qualifiers for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, and should be a dangerous opponent for any of the other contenders in the said tournament.

In these jousts, Coach Flemming should be able to rely on the likes of wingman Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and frontliners Amjyot Singh and Amrit Pal Singh.

Bhriguvanshi has been the team's steadiest perimeter player for the last few years, and nobody should be surprised if he makes another jump in production in 2015.

Amjyot has by far been the team's most athletic player and if he can just be a consistently good shooter, then he can be placed among the top-tier forwards on the continent.

Amrit Pal, meanwhile, seems to be improving with every game and is gradually approaching the quality of play of some of Asia's most potent centers. And to think he just learned to play the game at 19 years old! Talk about a late bloomer.

Given the team's recent successes, the vast potential of its players, and good in-game and off-court mentoring from Coach Flemming, India is definitely one team everyone should watch out and seriously prepare for this year.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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