Indian basketball team prepare for FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers home leg with Dubai exposure tour

The India leg of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers will take place in Chennai on November 22 and 25.

The Indian basketball team headed to Dubai for an exposure tour to prepare for the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in Chennai. They are scheduled to play against Qatar and Kazakhstan on November 22 and 25.

The team which toured for the exposure trip under the new head coach Scott Flemming seems like would go on to play the qualifiers as well.

India’s squad list for the exposure tour included long-time absentee Amjyot Singh Gill, who missed the first window and the Pre-Olympic Qualifying tournament. Muin Bek Hafeez, Princepal Singh, Palpreet Singh Brar, Prashant Singh Rawat were part of the team which played in the first window.

In a surprise addition, Samson Sandhu was part of the team while Vishesh Bhriguvanshi missed out. Piyush Meena from Rajasthan who debuted in the first window was also in the squad.

Indian basketball team squad for exposure tour

• Samson Sandhu – Guard
• Amjyot Singh Gill – Forward
• Pranav Prince – Forward
• Kushal Singh – Guard/Forward
• Princepal Singh – Forward/Center
• Vaisakh Karimpallimgal Manoj – Forward
• Harsh Dagar – Guard
• Arvind Kumar Muthukrishnan – Guard
• Sahaij Singh Sekhon – Guard/Forward
• Palpreet Singh Brar – Center
• Kanwar Gurbaz Singh Sandhu – Guard/Forward
• Muin Bek Hafeez – Guard/Forward
• Prashant Singh Rawat – Forward
• Baladaseshwar Poiyamozhi – Guard
• Piyush Meena – Forward/Center

The team played three exposure games against Dragons, 50C and Ball Above All Select at the Ball Above All Academy in Dubai. All the numbers and stats are shared by the Ball Above Academy.

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Over the three games, the Indian basketball team averaged 89.3 points with a decent 48.98% field goal conversion rate. The assists numbers went up to 25.7 from their Asia Cup Qualifiers average of 14, which clearly indicates the team’s willingness to share the ball more.

The team also drastically improved its ball handling by reducing its average turnovers. Other things to focus on box score-wise were the team’s improved shooting from all places.

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Looking at the players’ performances, Sahaij Singh Sekhon was the team’s highest scorer with 36 points, followed by Kanwar Gurbaz Singh Sandhu scoring 33 points across three games.

Scott Flemming discussed about a style of play with media, “We also have some guys that can really run the floor. So we’re going to be an up tempo team. We’re going to fast break.” This is true from the box score numbers where Harsh Dagar and Samson Sandhu were the key playmakers for the team with 13 and 11 total assists respectively.

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Harsh Dagar was also the best guy according to the plus-minus, he has taken a different role in the team as a perimeter threat and facilitator rather than being a head-down scorer. Bala and Arvind Kumar, the Tamil Nadu guard duo, averaged the most steals on the team.

Amjyot Singh Gill led the team in field goal efficiency but only took six shots, his overall impact on the box score was less as well. Gurbaz had an off game where he shot 2 out 11 from the perimeter but his inconsistency isn’t a new thing, he had the same issue during the 73rd Senior Nationals as well.

Sekhon also couldn’t find his stroke from the perimeter in one of the games. Other concerning thing popping from the box scores was the lack of impact of forwards or centres on the box score which can only be confirmed after looking at their schemes.

Overall, this new team looks exciting from what we have seen so far, and we can expect a totally different kind of Cagers under coach Flemming.

Games Summary

India 100-51 Dragons

• Harsh Dagar – 12 points, 7 assists, 4/6 3PM
• Kanwar Gurbaz Singh Sandhu – 18 points, 4/9 3PM
• Pranav Prince – 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

India 83-51 50C

• Amjyot Singh Gill – 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 100% FG%
• Sahaij Singh Sekhon – 10 points, 6/11 FG

India 91-100 Ball Above All

• Sahaij Singh Sekhon 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
• Arvind Kumar Muthukrishnan 14 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, 6/11 FGM
• Harsh Dagar 12 points, 4 assists, 2 steals

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