Indian basketball team will peak in 3-4 years: Coach Scott Flemming

CHENNAI: The past couple of weeks have been great for the India men’s basketball team. It qualified for the Asia Cup in the 5x5 format and later progressed to the quarterfinals of the 3x3 Asia Cup for the first time in 12 years. In 5x5, India defeated Iraq and then stunned the higher-ranked Bahrain, while the 3x3 team made its mark in the continental event.

India head coach Scott Flemming, who is in his second stint here, shed light on the teams’ performance. “I am proud of our guys for the way they performed. We just had two weeks of proper training to put our system back in. It was not an easy task to go up against Bahrain, but after our win against Iraq, we were confident and good in defence and three-pointers,” Flemming said on the sidelines of the SABA Club Championship here on Thursday.

Since the 67-year-old took up the coaching job in May last year, India have defeated two higher-ranked teams. The coach has backed several youngsters and a few of them have performed their roles. With a young core in place, Flemming believes that India will reach their peak in three to four years.

“I have told people that the peak of this team will come in three or four years because we have several players in their early 20s who are already performing at high levels. When these players reach their mid to late 20s, that is when we will be at our best. We are going to work towards getting there as quickly as possible, and in many ways, we already have. I talk to our guys a lot about narrowing the gap with the Chinese, Koreans and Iranians. We are not there yet but are slowly catching up.”

India had previously struggled with shooting accuracy, which had cost them several matches. The coach feels that the team is gradually improving in its shooting, and that it has helped them defeat higher-ranked opponents.

“We shot over 40% in our last two games, and if you can shoot at that level, it is excellent. A good three-point shooting team is usually 35% to 40%, and we shot above that. So we are hitting at a high rate. This is what we do and are good at. A nice thing is that we have a good number of shooters and if one has an off day, another steps up. We are maintaining the consistency but there could be off games,” Flemming added.

With the 5x5 Asia Cup just three months away, the coach said that the core of the team will remain intact, while the other spots will be finalised after the national camps and exposure tours.



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