All Roads Lead to Manila: Gilas Entry #21 – India & Thailand Team Previews


It is July 26, 2013 here in Manila, and there are only 6 nights left before the 2013 FIBA Asia Men’s Championship Tournament, the first ever held in these parts in four decades, kicks off at the ultramodern Mall of Asia Arena and the historic Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Now that the rosters of the participating teams have finally been revealed and confirmed, I can finally make the customary team-by-team previews of the tournament. This is, of course, something not done in much detail by other media outfits, so I am pretty excited. I plan to go through the groups starting with Group D and ending with Group A. Each post will focus on two teams, with the exception of the Group C preview, which will include all three squads since FIBA Asia wasn’t able to find a well-prepared replacement for the suspended Lebanese (I am still sad I won’t see Fadi El Khatib play).

For this first post, I will look at a team that is returning to the FIBA Asia tournament after a TWELVE year absence and a team that has the potential to be a rising power in Asian hoops.

Will Vishesh Bhriguvanshi lead India to
a breakthrough performance?
(image from FIBAAsia.net)

I will name a few key players for each team, some points of interest, and the general outlook for its performance. Where possible, I will also specify the team’s international nickname/moniker. Please note that a country’s basketball team usually uses the same moniker as its football team, with a few notable exceptions of course.

Game? Alright. Lezz do dis.

Folks, I present to you Thailand and India.



THAILAND (THA)
Moniker: War Elephants
Qualification: Beat Singapore and Malaysia in the 2013 SEABA Tournament to qualify.
Last FIBA Asia Appearance: 2001 – 1 win & 5 losses – Beat Singapore, but lost to China, Qatar, Hong Kong, Kuwait, and UAE.

Roster:
Name
Age
Height
Position
Darongpan Apiromvilaichai
28
6’1
G
Danai Kongkum
28
6’3
F
Anasawee Klaewnarong
20
6’5
C
Kannawat Lertlaokul
26
5’8
G
Attaport Lertmalaiporn
30
6’4
F/C
Wutipong Dasom
22
6’5
F/C
Darunpong Apiromvilaichai
28
6’1
G
Kannut Samerjai
25
5’11
G
Sukhdave Ghogar
23
6’5
C
Wacharapong Tongsri
28
5’10
G
Chanachon Klahan
29
6’2
F


Key Players:
1) Wutipong Dasom – This young forward is probably the most promising player to come out of Thailand in recent memory. He’s certainly the most athletic, and he showed this when he competed in the 2013 ASEAN Basketball League’s Slam Dunk Contest. He didn’t win, of course, and his team, the Sports Rev Thailand Slammers, were eliminated in the semifinals of the ABL Playoffs, but he certainly made quite an impression by the year’s end. He has a pretty balanced skill-set, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he leads the War Elephants in scoring in the FIBA Asia Tournament.

Wutipong Dasom goes up strong.
(image from AseanBasketballLeague.com)

2) Sukhdave Ghogar – The last time Ghogar played against a Philippine NT was way back in the 2011 SEA Games. At that time, he faced 7-foot Greg Slaughter in the paint. This time around, things aren’t going to be any easier as he is set to face the giants of India, CJ Giles of Bahrain, and Anton Ponomarev of Kazakhstan. Though Ghogar will probably be bullied down low, he should gain a lot of experience that he can use for future battles.

Point of Interest:
1) Low Expectations – Despite being in the consensus lightest group, the Thais aren’t expected to make a lot of noise. With Kazakhstan and Bahrain both being reinforced by naturalized players and India steadily improving, the Thais are bound to get bounced early.

Tournament Outlook:
It will be a big shock if Thailand beats any of the other Group D teams, let alone advance to the next round. By all intents and purposes, this team will get eliminated and might even fall all the way to last place overall.


INDIA (IND)
Moniker: Blue Tigers
Qualification: Beat Nepal and Afghanistan in the 2013 SABA Tournament to qualify.
Last FIBA Asia Appearance: 2011 – 1 win & 4 losses – Beat Qatar by default, but lost to Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Roster:
Name
Age
Height
Position
Sambhaji Kadam
33
5’10
G
Narender Kumar Grewal
25
6’1
G
Pratham Singh
22
6’0
G/F
Vinay Kaushik
22
6’3
F
Arjun Singh
21
6’0
G/F
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi
22
6’4
G/F
Amrit Pal Singh
22
6’11
C
Joginder Singh
25
5’11
G
Amjyot Singh
21
6’9
C/F
Yadwinder Singh
27
6’6
F
Rikin Pethani
23
6’9
F/C
Satnam Singh Bhamara
18
7’2
C


Key Players:
1) Vishesh Bhriguvanshi – Vishesh is the best all-around player for coach Scott Fleming, and he will probably finish among the scoring leaders by the tournament’s end. A gifted slasher and shooter, Vishesh can hang with the best guards in Asia, and now that it seems the team has stronger bigs compared to 2011, he should have even more room to operate at the perimeter.

2) Satnam Singh Bhamara – Satnam has captured the imagination of many Indians in much the same way Yao Ming did for the Chinese in the early 2000s. I highly doubt if Satnam has the skills to break into the NBA one day, but one cannot deny how imposing he is when he is under the basket. He still needs to develop his quickness and footwork, but he has a nice touch around the basket and his defensive timing has greatly improved compared to 2 years ago.

Satnam Singh Bhamara should be one of the most
interesting personalities in this year's tournament.
(image from FIBAAsia.net)

Points of Interest:
1) Breakthrough year? - It has long baffled me how a country that is second only to China in terms of population hasn’t been able to find great players to fill the spots on its national basketball team. That problem may have been a thing of the past, though, as coach Fleming has put together a roster that, on paper, seems really balanced. This is the main reason why 2013 might just be the Blue Tigers’ breakthrough year.

2) Potential rising power? – As has been mentioned above, India already has a top-flight guard in Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, and now that big guys like Amjyot Singh, Rikin Pethani, and Amrit Pal Singh have improved significantly, the future looks really bright. If coach Fleming can just find a way to make the Indians play their best on a consistent basis, then this could be the start of something really good.


Tournament Outlook:
I have the Indians beating Thailand and advancing to the second round. They might even have enough to spring beat against Bahrain, though upsetting the Kazakhs might be too tall an order. Once in round 2, however, I doubt if India can make much noise given how strong the Group C teams are. They won’t make the quarterfinals, but they have an outside chance of finishing in the top ten.


#parasabayan


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