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WNBA trials for India's Jose
Source: Agencies |
April 24, 2011, Sunday
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INDIAN basketball is set to take a big step forward this month when Geethu Anna Jose becomes the first player from her country to attend tryouts for the American professional league.
The 25-year-old center will have training sessions with WNBA teams Chicago Sky, Los Angeles Sparks and San Antonio Silver Stars in the space of eight days in what could be a history-making moment for the sport in her country.
"There is pressure and high expectations," the 188-centimeter Jose said. "The Indian basketball community is excited, but then, it is also my dream and I am going to go out there and give it my best shot."
Jose, who hails from the southern state of Kerala, is easily the biggest draw in Indian basketball and was the top scorer in the previous two FIBA Asian championships.
In the last edition held in India in 2009, the center averaged 22 points per game to help her team stay in the Elite Level 1 group. India finished sixth in the 12-team competition.
Jose is looking to draw from her experience of playing as a professional for three seasons for Ringwood Hawks in Australia's Big V Basketball as she eyes a Women's National Basketball Association breakthrough.
"The inside game is very hard outside India," Jose said. "The players there are really tough. My three years in Australia have given me a lot of confidence and I'd think it was there that my dream of playing in the WNBA was born."
Jose's Australian opportunity came after she caught Hawks head coach Tim Mottin's eye during the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she said. It was in that tournament she first had a chance to play against Australian center and WNBA star Lauren Jackson, who has been her inspiration since.
"She's simply astonishing. I just love her game," Jose said.
Troy Justice, the director of basketball for NBA India, helped set up Jose's tryouts as part of the league's efforts to promote the game in the nation of 1.2 billion people.
"Her skill set is very advanced," Justice said. "Her approach, her professionalism puts her in a position where she is the type of person we want in the WNBA."
According to the Basketball Federation of India, an estimated 4.5 million people play the game in India. On the men's side, the Asian country has high hopes for 15-year-old Satnam Singh Bhamar, who is touted as the player who can be the focal point of Indian basketball in the same manner Houston Rockets star Yao Ming has been for China.
The 25-year-old center will have training sessions with WNBA teams Chicago Sky, Los Angeles Sparks and San Antonio Silver Stars in the space of eight days in what could be a history-making moment for the sport in her country.
"There is pressure and high expectations," the 188-centimeter Jose said. "The Indian basketball community is excited, but then, it is also my dream and I am going to go out there and give it my best shot."
Jose, who hails from the southern state of Kerala, is easily the biggest draw in Indian basketball and was the top scorer in the previous two FIBA Asian championships.
In the last edition held in India in 2009, the center averaged 22 points per game to help her team stay in the Elite Level 1 group. India finished sixth in the 12-team competition.
Jose is looking to draw from her experience of playing as a professional for three seasons for Ringwood Hawks in Australia's Big V Basketball as she eyes a Women's National Basketball Association breakthrough.
"The inside game is very hard outside India," Jose said. "The players there are really tough. My three years in Australia have given me a lot of confidence and I'd think it was there that my dream of playing in the WNBA was born."
Jose's Australian opportunity came after she caught Hawks head coach Tim Mottin's eye during the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she said. It was in that tournament she first had a chance to play against Australian center and WNBA star Lauren Jackson, who has been her inspiration since.
"She's simply astonishing. I just love her game," Jose said.
Troy Justice, the director of basketball for NBA India, helped set up Jose's tryouts as part of the league's efforts to promote the game in the nation of 1.2 billion people.
"Her skill set is very advanced," Justice said. "Her approach, her professionalism puts her in a position where she is the type of person we want in the WNBA."
According to the Basketball Federation of India, an estimated 4.5 million people play the game in India. On the men's side, the Asian country has high hopes for 15-year-old Satnam Singh Bhamar, who is touted as the player who can be the focal point of Indian basketball in the same manner Houston Rockets star Yao Ming has been for China.
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