The completion of games on Monday (Feb. 28) concluded the second window of the FIBA World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers.
For Team India, who are the third-lowest ranked nation among the 16 participating in the Asian Qualifiers, this was the start of their campaign having no fixtures in the Nov. 2021 window.
It was a disappointing window for the reigning SABA Champions. Not only did they fail to register a win but the squad suffered three blowout losses.
Across their three Group A games, they lost by a combined tally of 114 points. Here's a recap of thOSE three games:
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Game 1: New Zealand 101, India 46
In their first game on Feb. 24, India's campaign began on the wrong foot. Against the Tall Blacks, they fell behind early as they were outscored 32-9 in the first quarter itself.
From that deficit, there was no way they could put together a comeback against the third-best ranked nation in Asia.
They eventually lost by 55, their largest margin of deficit during this game.
🇮🇳🗣️ "We haven't taken this game as a loss, we have taken it as a learning"
— FIBA Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) February 24, 2022
Despite going down to New Zealand, India showed some moments of encouragement as they build on their #FIBAWC experience 🇮🇳💪@BFI_basketball | #WinForIndia 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/eclF5S5sGH
While the Kiwis did make this a mismatch with their play, India didn't help their case either.
They shot 2-of-19 on 3-pointers and committed 25 turnovers, which led to 26 points for their opponents.
Game 2: Philippines 88, India 64
Playing just over 24 hours later, India put up more of a fight against the hosts but it still wasn't enough.
In fact, with just over six minutes left in the third quarter, they were within striking distance as they only trailed by seven (46-39).
However, the rest of the way, they got outscored 42-25 which eventually resulted in a 26-point loss.
The issues were similar to the first game - horrid 3-point shooting and turnovers. India shot 2-of-13 on their 3-point attempts while their 18 turnovers led to 21 points for the Philippines.
Game 3: New Zealand 95, India 60
In their third and final game of the February window, India improved once again and this time against a familiar foe. Playing their opponent from a few days earlier in the Tall Blacks, their play improved on both ends of the floor
After losing the previous game in the first quarter, they battled to a 24-20 scoreline after the first 10 minutes. Although that brought about hope, they lost the plot in the second period, when they were outscored 28-7.
The @TallBlacks leave Manila undefeated 😤 !#FIBAWC | #WinForNewZealand 🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/5CFBWd8JO5
— FIBA Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) February 28, 2022
The big differentiator in this game was New Zealand's offensive rebounds where they had a 20-8 advantage. That helped them hold a 26-7 advantage in second-chance points as India limited their turnovers to just 12 in this game.
Takeaways from India's performance in February window
Despite the dismal results, there are still some note-worthy talking points for the Indian squad from these games.
Young brigade show glimpses of promising future
In the team's 12-man roster for this window, seven players were aged 21 or younger.
With the veterans not necessarily leading the way and some even putting up sub-par performances, multiple young guns stepped up and showed a lot of potential.
In the first game against New Zealand, Sahaij Pratap Singh Sekhon was the team's best player with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Against Philippines, Prashant Singh Rawat finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and a steal in just 29 minutes of play. He also racked up six points and six rebounds in just 16 minutes on Monday (Feb. 28)
Against New Zealand, the second time around, Arvind Kumar Muthu Krishnan tallied 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 25 minutes of action.
The latter two - Rawat and Muthu Krishnan - are former NBA Academy India student-athletes. So, there's clearly talent and potential. It's time for these young players to receive the competitive opportunities they deserve in order to evolve into the young stars that could lead the national team in years to come.
Missed opportunities
As the recaps indicate, the Indian team clearly improved with each game. A great indicator of that is their play in either game against the Tall Blacks. In the second contest, if it wasn't for that second quarter, India was only outscored in the remaining periods by 14 which is a respectable tally given their opponent's ranking in Asia.
Over the recent years, this has been the trend and the fear is, this could continue. With the limited competitive basketball, pronounced by the lack of a professional league, India will always seem on the back foot even before they take the floor in a major FIBA tournament.
In November 2021, the Basketball Federation of India launched the INBL with the agenda to elevate the standard of the sport in the nation. One can only hope these goals are met, giving the national team's players enough competitive match time to better prepare them for major FIBA tournaments.
Silver lining
At the end of group games in this first round, the top three teams from each group qualify for round 2.
As per the FIBA's official website, Korea - the fourth team in Group A - is disqualified. The Southeast Asian country informed FIBA of its decision not to travel to the Philippines.
If this "disqualification" remains, India, even if they finish winless, would qualify for the second round, as the third of three teams in Group A.
While the method or means of qualification might not be ideal, it would be mean that India advances thus, giving more playtime time and exposure to their players.
