Photo: NBA Rising Star InvitationalPhoto: NBA Rising Star InvitationalNBA Rising Star Invitational TimesofIndia.com In SINGAPORE: By the time the boys finished on Sunday evening, there were hardly any empty seats inside the OCBC Arena.Spectators chanted and cheered with every basket on the court, while on the court, NBA stars Jeremy Lin and Mitch Richmond, along with WNBA legend Lauren Jackson, watched two of Asia’s best teams fight for the title. Six days earlier, Los Angeles Lakers player Rui Hachimura opened the tournament with a speech encouraging more players from Asia to dream of making it to the NBA.By the end of the week, the next generation had taken action.The second edition of the NBA Rising Stars Invitational ended on Sunday with Japan’s Seika Girls’ High School and South Korea’s Kyungbock High School winning the tournament involving 24 boys and girls teams from the Asia-Pacific region.
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Seika recovered from a slow opening to defeat Chinese Taipei’s Yangming High School 106-56 in the girls’ final, while Kyungbock produced another clinical display to beat Japan’s Tottori Joku High School 82-72 and lift the boys’ title after a quick sweep.The medals may have gone to Japan and South Korea, but the sport’s biggest honor reflects the breadth of talent on display across the region.Seika’s Buba Aisha Ezzine capped off a memorable week by being named the Girls Finals MVP after picking up the Defensive Player of the Tournament award, while Kyungbock goalkeeper Yoon Jiwon walked away with the Boys Finals MVP honor.The All-Tournament teams also emphasized the diversity of the tournament.Australia’s Boris Rosner (Berwick College), Japan’s Philemon Talmon (Tottori Joku High School), China’s Wang Junzheng (Tsinghua University High School) and South Korea’s Yoon Jihoon and Yoon Jiwon (Kyungbock High School) were included in the boys’ First Team.The girls’ selection included Ezzine and her friend Goto Honoka, along with Hsu Yu-Shan (Yangming High School), Tiedore Puoch (Rowville Secondary College) and Yuan Zixi (Yali High School).The tournament provided a rare glimpse into the present – and perhaps the future – of basketball across Asia.From Australia’s attitude and Japan’s control to South Korea’s pressure game and China’s team play, each game became a lesson in the different cultures of basketball taking place in the region.For India’s only representative, The Velammal International School, the week ended without a victory, but with something more important: emotions.Former India NBA Academy player Kushal Singh may have done better. “We know that other countries are good in basketball, so we have a very good competition to play against,” he told TimesofIndia.com at the start of the tournament.That willingness to learn seems to define the week as much as the competition itself.Jeremy Lin, one of the most exciting moments of the last day, believes that these moments are more important than pictures or autographs.“I think the biggest part is motivation,” Lin told TimesofIndia.com.“Growing up, I didn’t have an Asian player I could look up to until Yao Ming came along. But Yao was very different from me; he was in the middle, while I was usually the shortest person on the court.
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“So I hope I can encourage them, show them that I’m here, appreciate what they can do, watch their game, and give back to the game of basketball. As they grow, I hope they will continue to do the same for the next generation.”Alongside the tournament were coaching clinics, referee development programs, community basketball games and the Her Time To Play initiative, where Lauren Jackson spent time encouraging more girls to continue playing sports beyond their high school years.Earlier in the week, Jackson spoke about the biggest challenges facing women’s sports: not just getting girls to start playing, but making sure they last long enough to become the players, coaches and leaders of the future.The tournament’s success, however, was as much a focus of what happened on the hardwood as it was in the arenas, with attendance continuing a week before a packed house of finalists.
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“It was very encouraging to see the final, showing the growing passion for basketball,” a Sport Singapore spokesperson said after the event.“We hope that the experience of this competition has inspired the next generation of athletes to take up the sport and realize their potential.”Lin felt that interest was the strongest in the area.“When you think about basketball in the Asia-Pacific region, what gives you hope?” he was asked.“Always, for me, it’s passion,” he replied.“When I see the amazing interest, I hope that people will find a way to bring in the best coaches. They will find a way to build youth basketball from the bottom up. I hope that players, parents, and governments will continue to invest in the game.
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“When there’s passion, I think everything else can follow. And that’s definitely what I feel when I’m here,” added Lin.
