FIBA West Asia Super League Final 8: Tamil Nadu opens with 76-100 loss to Kuwait Club

Facing the Gulf League Champions Kuwait Club, India’s Senior Nationals gold winning side Tamil Nadu, found themselves outclassed and outmatched

Facing the Gulf League Champions Kuwait Club, India’s Senior Nationals gold winning side Tamil Nadu, found themselves outclassed and outmatched, losing 76-100, in the opening game of the FIBA West Asia Super League Final 8.

The ‘Final 8’ tournament is underway at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall in Doha, Qatar.

American Guest Players

The Tamil Nadu team also featured two American guest players (as permitted by WASL rules) - and the story within the story was how these two - guard Brian Re Karion Halums and center James Anthony Farr - would assimilate with the rest of the regular Tamil Nadu team.

Defense MIA

The first half saw Tamil Nadu’s offense largely disjointed, with players - led by Halums - trying to score in isolation. On the other hand, the well oiled Kuwait Club shared the ball well, to easily outscore Tamil Nadu 28-19 and 26-13 in the first two periods.

Coming into the second half, Tamil Nadu’s offense finally started clicking and with a few minutes left in Q3, the side was able to trim Kuwait Club’s 28 point lead to 20. However, Tamil Nadu’s persistent inability to get stops on the defensive end negated any chances of an unlikely comeback.

Not enough joint-prep time

Speaking in the post-game press conference, both Head Coach Sunny CV and Halums highlighted the lack of shared team practices between the regular Tamil Nadu players and the two American guest players. In the same breadth, they promised a much improved show ahead of the two upcoming games.

Upcoming Games

With Tamil Nadu next facing Iran’s Shahrdary Gorgan on May 26, followed by their final group phase game against Kazma (Kuwait) on May 27, it will be interesting to see how quickly the side can build much-needed chemistry.

Tamil Nadu (Brian Halums 21 pts, Pranav Prince 17 pts 8 reb, Arvind Kumar Muthu Krishnan 16 pts, James Farr 12 pts 9 reb) lost to Kuwait Club (Joseph Young 30 pts, Cody Lalanne 19 pts 10 reb, Marcus Anthony Georges-Hunt 17 pts) 76-100 [19-28, 13-26, 27-29, 17-17]

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