TimesofIndia.com in Singapore: For much of this week, moving between courts inside Singapore’s OCBC Arena for the 2026 NBA Rising Stars Invitational has become a recurring habit.The Japanese school has been successful. The Chinese side follows with another convincing performance. Australia pushes itself physically. South Korea plays with a team that looks fast.Different jerseys. Different critics. However, the system does not change. These teams don’t just win. That’s how they win.The ball doesn’t sit still for long. A defensive shot immediately becomes another attack. Five players rotate almost naturally, rarely looking to the bench to go. Journalists of all crimes refuse to give up, whether the game is level or the lead has already begun to move on.Viewed from the court, it is very difficult to separate individual talent from the system that produces it.The process followed the second game of Velammal International School at Hall 3 on Thursday afternoon.Against South Korea’s Kyungbock High School, the Indian representatives found themselves chasing the basketball, and the speed with which the Koreans prepared everything.
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By halftime, the race was almost over.Every time Velammal looks to build patiently from the backcourt, another Korean defender arrives. The byways disappeared immediately. The loose balls were caught before the Indian players could react. The full-court press was turned off before kickoff, when every defense became another threat.Everything was made for space, expectation and time. A quick break came in waves. Even the things he had were always done in a very organized way.The final score read 131-46.However, as the evening progressed, the blackboard gradually became a more important part of the story. The big question continued long after the final whistle.Why do the same basketball nations continue to produce school teams that appear several steps ahead of everyone else?
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More than talent
From the stands, it was easy to think that South Korea’s biggest advantage came from physicality.Head coach Sungin Lim saw it differently.“The fitness of the Indian team is very good,” Lim told Timesofindia.com after the match. “Their qualities are good. But compared to our players, the basics are missing. That’s where I saw the biggest difference.”The answer is similar to what happened in four stages.Kyungbock weren’t just big players. They defended as a team.He blocked the ball handlers before they could get out of the passing lanes. Each iteration led to another change. Each player understands where the next pass is going before it is played.The numbers showed that all people understood things. Kyungbock finished with 54 rebounds, 31 assists and 26 steals, forcing Velammal into 40 turnovers.But Mr Lim stressed that the numbers are final.“The most important thing is the amount of education,” he said. “Students have a school, they have classes and they do other things. So, within a short period of time, we try to expand the education.“Basketball is always a team sport. If you don’t have fitness, you won’t be able to express your skills or your fundamentals on the court.”Seeing the Koreans continue to push hard into the fourth quarter, it was hard to argue.
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The way to school
Interestingly, Lim is quick to challenge the idea that South Korea’s success is based on large sums of money. In fact, he believes that basketball receives less support today than in the past.“Korean basketball had a strong structure and structure,” he said.“The support is less than before.” Instead, South Korea has focused on improving the environment around its players.Elite basketball schools are now working closely with club programs, developing players while maintaining the same training principles.“The key is to bring in more schools and clubs,” said Lim. “You need more kids playing, but you also need the right coaches to help those kids reach their potential.”Importantly, the journey doesn’t stop once high school basketball ends.Players go through a regular university tournament before entering the KBL, creating a path that continues through youth.High school is not the end. Many players attend college basketball before entering the professional league.
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Indian cuisine
Velammal head coach Shamsheer Basha spoke earlier in the week about India’s need to improve its starting XI. Thursday only reinforced that belief.“Our guys were lazy today,” Basha admitted before adding, “There was a lack of action, our defense wasn’t good, our offense wasn’t good.”When asked what he enjoyed most about South Korea, his answers came immediately.“Their outside shooting is very good, their communication is very good, their game planning is very good, their press throughout the court is very good.”“Our guys move slowly. They attack right away. That’s what we learned from this tournament. I’ll go back and teach these guys the mistakes we made.”Velammal’s career was boosted by Fyodor Prem Athithan, one of India’s best performers against Indonesia, with just ten minutes remaining.Without their starting point guard, the onus shifted to former NBA Academy India player Kushal Singh, who spent most of his time running the offense rather than finding his points before finishing with 17.Captain Sri Saran Vadivel Murugan continued to fight throughout, adding 16 points despite the huge deficit.Kushal, however, refused to measure the week through wins or losses.“I knew I had to take my friends first,” he said. “It’s a team sport. One player can’t do anything.”Considering the tournament, he didn’t talk much about basketball and about emotions.“As a group, we’re lacking in a lot of places. We don’t have ideas. We don’t have enough mental energy. We give up early.”Then came a line that perhaps explains why games like the NBA Rising Stars Invitational.“Now we know our mistakes. We know where we stand individually and as a team. So we can come back better.”
