Very happy with players who represent India, says coach Zoran Visic

The Young Cagers put up a good fight in the first half of the match against South Korea.

After a heavy defeat against the defending champions Japan, the Indian women's basketball team suffered another loss in their second group match of the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2021. They lost 69-107 to Asian powerhouses South Korea. In the post-match conference, India's head coach Zoran Visic and captain Shireen Limaye expressed their views regarding the team’s performance.

India will now face New Zealand in their third group stage match on Wednesday. The Young Cagers will hope for a positive outcome in their last game of the tournament.

Speaking on the team's efforts against South Korea, Zoran Visic remarked, "Today's game was a little bit better than yesterday's game against Japan. So, we are still here to learn and use the next game for our experience. I am proud of these young players. It's big pressure on them for sure. Div A is a very tough competition with very good teams.

"It was good concentration for almost one and a half quarter in the first half and then there were mistakes out of nervousness," he added.

Zoran Visic also shared his thoughts on the loss against Japan in the previous match. The coach stated, "The game against Japan was finished practically in the first quarter. Strong teams want to finish games as soon as possible. Yesterday was a lot of mistakes. Our players' press break was very bad without any conception. Today also we continued with a little bit of these things. But, you know experience is experience. "

However, he also heaped praise on the Indian team's ability to get rebounds in their match against South Korea. Zoran Visic said, "Today, I can be proud of our rebounds. We made more rebounds than yesterday and also more than team Korea, which is very good for this young team, so that they can be good in any part of the game."

The Indian team started strong in the first quarter, but eventually the gap between the two teams increased by the time they reached the last quarter.

When asked about the team's performance, the coach eluded to a couple of parameters where things went wrong. Zoran Visic remarked, "In the second half there were lots of problems and usually we have this kind of problem, where we are not adapt to this style of the game, especially these Asian teams who drive a lot. Actually, they have every time open shots, three-pointers. So, we try something to do with the zone, but it was not successful, not yesterday and also not today.

"Tomorrow is a new game and a new experience for us and I am really happy that these girls who represented India try from game-to-game to become better and better. It is very difficult to survive in this division, but we will try. India has great potential, not only in men's but also in women's basketball," he concluded.

Shireen Limaye echoed the coach’s sentiments. She stated, "The first half was actually very good. It was a good beginning for us in this game. We lacked in transition on defence, but I am just extremely proud of my girls, that we are still standing here and we are ready to fight tomorrow. We are just going to take one match at a time, are going to keep improving step-by-step. "

The Indian team will face New Zealand in the next match and will look to improve their performance and register a win in the tournament.

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