Revenge : B'ball Game Review

In an attempt to not get bored in the holidays, along with the idea of establishing the fact that we can indeed play without our ex captain in Bangalore level tournaments, we decided to enroll ourselves in the PESIT tournament which was to happen in the middle of the holidays. That would mean 2 things. Firstly we would not go with our first choice team, with a couple of our International models missing out. Secondly, since everyone in Bangalore is in a different corner of the city, we would not have much of team practise. That said, when the fixtures were out, almost as if destiny had it in store for us, we were drawn against Ramaiah. Ramaiah for starters, is one of the best teams in the city, boasting of 3 VTU players, and excellent tournament records, and regarded in most tourneys as potential winners. To add to this, there is a certain feeling of desperate revenge, because of a loss to Ramaiah in a game last year, which was a scar on our team that we wanted to erase. We were praying to get a chance to play them at Inci last year, but we had got that chance only now, and we were in no mood to let it slip.

The final day had arrived. Ramaiah, as confident as they always are, brought along their second jersey for the evening game, expecting it to be a breeze against us. Little did they know how much this game meant to us. Since one of our first 5 players were not available we had to do with a makeshift lineup. Ramaiah too in all fairness was a makeshift lineup, but that shouldn't have made any difference. Camel, Alok, Nitin, Sharan and Ewin lined up for us. Ramaiah, known for their high intensity game were up to it from the first minute. Full court press, physical rebounds, Clutch shooting, all in an attempt to psych the opponents out like they always do. But this wasn't going to be another 'always'. Simple screens and some intensity from our own end, and there we were leading 10-8 at the end of the first quarter. Team huddle's message was to keep up the intensity and not let this chance slip. Second quarter did not go as expected. We slacked, they picked up intensity and it was slowly beginning to slip away. 21-12 at the end of the half. Disastrous second period, but it was pointed out that we were going wrong in basics. Simple screens could break that defence. Fundamental basketball would do the trick. Third quarter and Bloke went beserk. Three three pointers and there we were back in the hunt again. Good defence coupled with the fact that they were getting tired too, meant that we took complete advantage and lead was back with us at the end of the third. Final quarter, we were ten minutes away from what we wanted so badly last year. Bloke continued his streak, with a few more sweet three's. With about 3 minutes left we were leading by 6. It was not done, we had lost the Inci semis in the exact same scenario. But it was not going to happen this time. Raphael shocked us with a couple of clutch three's and there it was. It was looking like the dream would slip away. Just a couple of seconds later, Bloke puts up a shot, misses, and almost as if it is meant to be, the ball lands right into Sharan's arms under the board for an easy finish. 2 Points, and there we were, 11 seconds away from what we wanted so badly. The referees came to us and said just 11 seconds. Surana coach told us the same thing. 11 seconds later, it was over. We had finally beaten Ramaiah, in the process handing them probably their first ever first round exit, and probably their first ever loss to an Engineering team. Ironic we did it without our martyr, Singh, but we achieved what we wanted badly. Revenge, does taste sweet.

Although we went on to lose the semis to a really bad team, in an equally close affair, which shouldn't have been the case, the first victory was something special for all of us. Something we dedicated to Singh. Something that showed to the people that we can play outside our own tournament. With the required effort, surely, a sign of things to come.