INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM with Amandamohana Ghosh
Hello to all our fans,
I’m Amandamohana Ghosh
(8195423), the only “official” point guard of India’s national team. I volunteer to present to you guys a little recap that occurred the last 2 weeks. Yeah, you can say that I choose the wrong ones! But hey, basketball is basketball. We cannot grow without making mistakes or that will mean that we are doing nothing! I must admit: rethinking of New Zealand game is painful. Really, until now, this game is the worst experience of my career. But life continues and India should move on.
Before New Zealand gameAfter our defeat against Pakistan
(13708), the locker room sort of tried to see life on the bright side. In spite of the negative result, we saved some enthusiasm and still had some real chances to qualify for the next round. After all, we play a competition to go as far as we can. Otherwise, why would we compete?
The current general manager analyzed New Zealand and presented their tactics scheme. They looked impressive. On the paper, our starting five had nothing similar than theirs. They were stronger in every aspects. Outside/Inside. Attack/Defense. Rebounding/Offensive flow. But it wasn’t impossible. All we had to do was use up their five stars and jack our balls from downtown. The instructions were simple. We lined up our best outside shooters and our best defenders. The defenders were asked to stay as close as possible to their key players and therefore restrain their performances: N. Panjaitan
(8205434), S. Searles
(11000721) & A. Gawali
(12179291). The Kiwi three musketeers.
Unfortunately, faith was on their side. C. Gopal Reddy
(8195561), one of our best defender, was out for this crucial game. Combination of circumstances or destiny? Currently, India doesn’t have a sufficient pool of talent to deal with those kind of problems... Anyways, truth comes from the ball, as players, our job is to provide the best performance possible. We let the chosen general manager handle with his tasks. In order words, C. Gopal Reddy is more his problem than ours. Right N#23?
India @ New Zealand: The 1st quarterWhen entering the arena, we expel all thoughts out of our heads, only focusing on the court, the ball, the basket… Personally, I was also looking at S. Searles, my “vis-à-vis”. I was thinking if he was as good as the staff mentioned.
The jump ball was won by Eddy Hales
(10268893), Kiwis best center. I think this action reflects the game: they leaded, we followed.
During the 1st quarter, we answered to all their attacks. It was a magnificent quid pro quo. I’m sure the fans appreciated the show offered by the two nations. Our outside sector was even superior compared to theirs. Indeed, T.J.
(9093174), Udup
(4369745) and I scored 19 points combined. Whereas they scored 18 points. Their lead relied on their big men and enabled them to finish this 1st half with a 3 points lead. We were all with a ratio of 50 FG%. Excepted our Captain (I. Razdan)
(8448030) and Dinakara (D. Nagendra Gandhi)
(10440985). In order words, we fulfill our roles in this 1st quarter. We gained confidence and were ready for the 2nd.