Scott Fleming, the Indian men’s basketball team head coach, said reaching FIBA Asia Cup knockouts won’t be an easy task but exuded optimism in causing upsets.
India, which is ranked 15th in Asia, is placed in Group ‘C’ along with China (6), Jordan (8) and Saudi Arabia (10). The tournament starts August 5 in Jeddah.
“Yes, China, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia are better ranked than us. It’s a huge challenge but we will go for upsets,” Fleming told Sportstar on Friday.
The team trained at the National Sports Centre at Panaiyur in Chennai, looking to iron out different aspects of the game. “We are good in perimeter shooting, which we will continue to do that. We are strengthening our defence and we have been inconsistent so far,” Fleming said.
According to Fleming, qualifying for the Asia Cup has become tougher in the last two years. “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.
Indian captain Muin Bek said the team is aiming 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,” the captain said.
India played two away matches against Qatar earlier in July; Bek said that they have boosted the team’s confidence.