The Indian men’s basketball coach Scott Flemming with his wards at a practice session. File.
| Photo Credit: R. Ravindran
Scott Fleming, the Indian men’s basketball team head coach said the teams in Group ‘C’ in the FIBA Asia Cup beginning in Jeddah on August 5, are all higher ranked than India (Asia ranked 15) and it won’t be easy at all to reach the knock-outs, but exuded cautious optimism.
“Yes, China (Asia ranking 6), Jordan (8) and Saudi Arabia (10) are better-ranked than us. It’s a huge challenge. But we will go for upsets,” said Scott in a chat with The Hindu over a phone call here on Friday.
On aspects that the team focussed on its training sessions at the National Sports Centre at Panaiyur here, Scott said, “We are good in perimeter shooting. We will continue to do that. We are strengthening our defence. We have been inconsistent so far,” he said.
Qualifying for the Asia Cup has been made tougher in the last two years unlike in the past, Scott said. “Earlier we used to beat weaker teams such as Bangladesh. Now it’s become tough. We had to beat Kazakhstan and Bahrain to qualify this time,” he said.
India’s captain Muin Bek said the team is focusing its energies to beat Jordan and Saudi Arabia. “One of Jordan’s best players, Ahmad Al Dwairi (centre) is not playing. And in Saudi Arabia, there are no prominent imports,” said the captain, while adding that the two away matches (July 8 and 15) that the team played against Qatar has boosted its confidence.
Published – August 01, 2025 11:53 pm IST
