In Indian basketball, Tamil Nadu is widely regarded as one of the big forces. It would have taken a lot of successful teams trained by coaches who were taskmasters to earn titles and be dubbed one of the big forces in the nation. Former national women's team player from Tamil Nadu and Padma Shri awardee Anitha Paulraj, former state team and national women's team coach Chelladurai Thinakaran, and Baskar S, the current women's team coach are a few names.
For Coach James D — someone who has worked with various men’s teams for the last fifteen years — coaching the women’s team is more than just attaining success. That was indicative when the Tamil Nadu women's team mounted an incredible comeback to beat Maharashtra 72-70 in the quarterfinals of the Senior National Basketball Championship here on Friday. From 42-59 down in the beginning of the fourth quarter, the team scored 30 points that quarter thanks to brilliant shows from centre Sruthy R (22 points, 24 rebounds) and shooting guard Shree Varshini (19 points, 6 three points made).
This marks their third consecutive semi-final appearance in the tournament. On Saturday, the team lost to defending champions Railways 54-88. While they may have ended their tournament again at this stage, James' tenure with the women's team is bound to only get better. He explains his time as a coach and his transformation as a human being. Hailing from Thoothukudi, James is known to guide Madras University to glory in the inaugural edition of the Khelo India University Games in 2020 held in Bhubaneswar. He shares that when he was offered the head coach’s position three years ago, he initially refused. “It is still a little difficult to be honest,” he says with a chuckle in reference to his temper on the sidelines or what he calls it “aggression.” "With the boys, If I shouted at them they would let it pass, but with women, I realised they were a little sensitive,” he says.
But it is not all gloomy there, as the happiest thing about being the coach for them is the fact he has seen most of them grow from their time at school. “They were ready to listen to me. They knew how I conduct myself on the court. Our continuous runs to the semi-final runs in my tenure is all because of their coordination,” says James, who is also the stadium officer here at the Nehru Indoor Stadium.
One key learning in his tenure so far is that women are well capable of putting up an equal fight as men do on the court. “I used to have the opinion that the levels were different. But now, I feel both are equal. Women have that fighting quality. They displayed that fight in the fourth quarter of the quarterfinal where they were down 21 points. Outside the court, I see a change in that opinion, from the time where I reluctantly took the job after the Tamil Nadu Basketball Association (TNBA) had said they had no other candidates for this role. The way I talk and behave has changed. My aggression has mostly worked out well with the boys but I learnt that if I lose my temper with women, they would perform well on court. I realised my excessive anger would cost matches. These girls have given me the maturity on how to think before I give them instructions on court,” he shares.
The team began working together for the senior nationals a month-and-a-half ago, according to Sruthy. “We worked on the press, and our man-to-man defence. Our coaches helped us a lot. They let us play freely, rather than insisting on playing a particular style of play. We were able to give it our best,” says the centre player.
For Varshini, her induction into the senior team for her first senior level tournament was not difficult. “Right from the beginning of the camp, they were all supportive. The seniors helped me a lot. they encouraged me and said it is okay to make mistakes in training,” she says, adding that helped her polish her skills and apply it in the game.