What Indian basketball learned from Asia’s best at the NBA Rising Stars Invitational
(Image: NBA Rising Stars Invitational) TimesofIndia.com v Singapore: For much of this week, moving between courts at Singapore’s OCBC Arena for the 2026 NBA Rising Stars Invitational has almost become repetitive.The Japanese school wins comfortably. The Chinese side follows with another convincing performance. Australia is asserting itself physically. South Korea play with a level of organization that rarely seems rushed.Different jerseys. Different opponents. However, the pattern hardly changes. It’s not just that these teams are winning. This is how they win.The ball rarely stays still for long. A defensive bounce immediately becomes another attack. The five players rotate almost instinctively, rarely looking towards the bench for direction. The full-court press refuses to let up, whether the game is tied or the lead has stretched beyond reach.Viewed from the side of the court, it is increasingly difficult to separate individual talents from the system that produces them.This pattern followed in Velammal International School’s second match at Hall 3 on Thursday afternoon.Against South Korea’s Kyungbock High School, India’s lone representatives chased each other not only with basketball but also with the speed with which the Koreans handled every situation.
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By halftime, the game was almost out of control.Whenever Velammal patiently tried to build from the backcourt, another Korean defender arrived. The passing lanes disappeared almost immediately. The loose balls were won before the Indian players could react. The full-court press stifled the possession before it even started, while every defensive rebound instantly became another offense.Each was a product of spacing, anticipation and timing. The fast breaks came in waves. Even routine possessions were executed with remarkable precision.The final score ended up being 131-46.However, as the afternoon progressed, the scoreboard gradually became the least interesting part of the story. The bigger question lingered long after the final buzzer.Why do the same basketball nations continue to produce school teams that appear several steps ahead of others?
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More than talent
From the stands, it was easy to assume that South Korea’s biggest advantage came from the physical side.Head coach Sungin Lim saw it differently.“The physical balance of the Indian team is actually very good,” Lim told Timesofindia.com after the match. “Their fitness is also good. But compared to our players, the fundamentals are missing. That’s where I saw the biggest difference.”His answer reflected what had been going on for four quarters.Kyungbock weren’t just bigger players. They defended as a unit.They caught the ball handlers before passing opportunities arose. Each bounce triggered another transition. Each player understood where the next pass was going before the play.The numbers reflected this collective understanding. Kyungbock finished with 54 rebounds, 31 assists and 26 steals, forcing Velammal into 40 turnovers.But Lim insisted that these numbers are only the final product.“The most important thing is the volume of training,” he said. “Students have school, they have classes, and they have other activities. So, within that limited time, we try to maximize the intensity of the training.“Basketball is always a team game. If you don’t have stamina, you can’t show your skills or your fundamentals on the court.”Watching the Koreans continue to press with the same intensity in the fourth quarter, it was hard to disagree.
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Way out of school
Interestingly, Lim was quick to dismiss the notion that South Korea’s success simply comes from greater investment. In fact, he believes basketball receives less support today than it once did.“Korean basketball used to have a much stronger structure and infrastructure,” he explained.“The support has decreased compared to before.” Instead, South Korea focused on strengthening the ecosystem around its players.Elite basketball schools now partner with club programs, expanding the player base while maintaining coaching standards.“It’s important to get more schools and clubs involved in the system,” Lim said. “You need more kids playing, but you also need the right coaches to help those kids reach their potential.”Just as importantly, the journey doesn’t end once high school basketball ends.Players will move into a structured university competition before progressing to the professional KBL, creating a journey that goes well beyond adolescence.High school isn’t over. Many players first come through college basketball before entering the professional league.
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Takeaway from India
Velammalu head coach Shamsheer Basha spoke earlier in the week about India needing to improve their fundamentals. Thursday only reinforced that belief.“Our guys were lazy today,” Basha admitted, adding: “We lack practice, our defense wasn’t good, our offense wasn’t good.”When asked what impressed him most about South Korea, his answers came almost immediately.“Their outside shooting is very good, their communication is very good, their game planning is very good, their pressing on the court is excellent.“Our guys move slowly. They attack right away. That’s what we learned from this tournament. I’m going to come back and teach these guys what mistakes we made.”Velammal’s task became even more difficult when Fyodor Prem Athithan, one of India’s best performers against Indonesia, was restricted to just ten minutes.Without their primary point guard, much of the onus shifted to former NBA Academy India player Kushal Singh, who spent long spells initiating the attack rather than looking for points of his own before finishing with 17.Sri Saran captain Vadivel Murugan battled throughout and added 16 points despite a widening deficit.However, Kushal refused to measure the week by wins or losses.“I knew I had to get my teammates involved first,” he said. “It’s a team game. One player can’t do everything.”Reflecting on the tournament, he talked less about basketball and more about mentality.“As a team, we’re lacking in a lot of places. We’re lacking in thinking. We’re not having enough mental strength. We’re giving up too early.”Then came a line that perhaps best sums up why tournaments like the NBA Rising Stars Invitational matter.“Now we know our mistakes. We know where we are as individuals and as a team. So we can come back better.”