National Tournament in Ludhiana
I recently attended the senior men's and women's national championship in Ludhiana. Besides the freezing tempertures outside and inside the arena it was a great event. I was able to watch basketball from morning to night. (and they call this work) This allowed me to meet many of the top Indian coaches, former and present players, as well as the basketball administrators of India. It not only gave me some networking opportunities but now I have many new friends. It gave me an opportunity to scout most of the top players in the country. From this I will, along with the selection committee, choose 25 men and 25 women to be invited to the national training camps.
I was asked to conduct 2 coaches clinics while in Ludiana. The first day I shared my concepts on fast break "pressure offense". The second day a moved on to the fundamentals of good half court offense, introducing the primary man to man offense we will be using with the Indian national teams. In fact, I will be calling it "India" offense. I appreciated the more than 50 coaches that attended. We also held a national tryout for the U16 boys and girls teams. There were almost 120 that showed up to tryout. This is a sign of the growing interest in basketball in India.
Congratulations to the Indian Railways women's team and Uttrakhand men's team on winning the national championship. The Uttrakhand vesus Punjab game was a great finish to the tournament. The defending champs of Punjab were the favorites to take the crown again but Uttrahand played a tremendous team game on both ends to claim the title. I was very encouraged by their unselfish play. It will serve as a great example of the need to share the basketball and play as a unit.
I was able to break away one day with my wife and daughter to visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar. What an amazing experience. I've told you in the past that every day I see something that I've never seen before. This was near the top of list of new sights.
I will be heading to Bangalore for the Federation Cup later this month. I can't wait to see the sights, take in hours of basketball, and meet many more new colleagues and friends. I will give a report when I get back.