‘Passing the ball is key’

What is the difference you noticed among Indian kids in terms of playing style? And what should they do to advance to the next level?

What caught my eye was that the Indian kids get into a lot of turnovers,and lose the ball. They have this tendency to try and dunk as soon as they get the ball,whereas we are taught that even if there is a 50% chance that the ball can be passed then you do that,you don’t shoot. We shoot only when we are 80-100% sure that we will get it. They should play with their heart,have fun doing it,and follow the perfect practice — that includes training in a match like set-up,with match-like speed. If you train in slow motion,you can’t expect to be in good rhythm during the game.

Former and current NBA players and coaches that come here continue to announce that an Indian will make an appearance soon in the American league. Is it just because it suits NBA’s marketing strategies?

If you want to achieve anything,which is even far less competitive than getting into the NBA,you can’t be a naysayer. It hasn’t happened before so definitely people are going to doubt that it will but no one person can say that you need to do this,this and this to get in because every player’s needs are different. Everyone’s gotta try,because you never know what a door of possibilities it will open. For India’s sake I hope it happens soon so that the critics keep quiet and people can see a glimmer of hope. The kids here need to be like a duck,roll over all their problems to the back and keep moving against the challenges.

Describe some of the challenges you faced and how you overcame them?

I was tall and I was strong but I was also very clumsy with my movements early on but I hated to lose so the big boys used to use that against me. They would knock me down and trash talk me. I started memorising the trash talk and during practice,used it as motivation. Then I saw videos of how they knocked me down. Where there’s a ying,there’s also a yang. I noticed they use the same steps to knock me down,I started adjusting,pulling behind,and it worked,they couldn’t do it to me again.

What would you suggest the coaches here to do?

This is the age of the internet,everything is available online. Even we grew up with a lot of studying video tapes and stuff. I think that is something that they can bring in their coaching in a big way. The Indian culture pushes education a lot and they have to find something to attract kids to sports. I saw the attitude of the coaches in Bangalore and I felt that they loved what they were doing,they were not there just to fill positions. A lot of times children pick the fire for the game from the coaches and they have to make sure their level is up.