Marta Canella, the 2021 3x3 FIBA champion from Spain, was in the city for a basketball camp at the VIBGYOR School last week.
Bengaluru: Basketball in India has always been a sport with a lot of potential but various hurdles have stalled it from making any tangible progress.
Marta Canella, the 2021 3x3 FIBA Champion from Spain, feels the attitude and interest among aspirants is conducive for the game’s growth.
“While I didn’t know much about how basketball was here (in India) before coming, from what I’ve seen, there’s still a lot to do,” Marta told DH before adding: “I like the attitude of the kids and their interest in basketball. I think the future is bright. If you try hard, you’ll get results,” she added.
Marta and award-winning coach Bernat Canut were here in the city to conduct a camp organised by Olympia Sportz in partnership with VIBGYOR schools in their campus.
After travelling to Mumbai and Pune, the duo from Spain were in Bengaluru for their final pit stop in India.
Marta started playing basketball at a young age, quickly becoming enamoured by a sport that allowed her to showcase both her individual talents as well as team play. “I’m so happy I made that decision. I can’t do this forever, so I should do it when I can,” she said.
She shared her insights and experience as an international professional player with the students in an effort to help them understand global perspective on the sport. With her forte being the 3x3 format, it may be an ideal point of focus for India who have a lot of ground to cover when it comes to the traditional format.
“Given the reduced time and number of players, everybody has to show up and do a little bit of everything,” she says. “It’s an approach to basketball, starting from a lower number of players, then growing. Being good at 3x3 makes you good at 5x5; at the end of the day it’s all basketball, just a different dynamic. So I think it could really be tried out here.”
Coach Canut echoes similar thoughts. “3x3 is interesting, but I still think it’s the younger brother of the 5x5. So it’s indeed a growing format,” he says.
Spain is ranked among the top five teams in both men and women’s sections, so what does it take to build a high quality side?
“I always say a pass is better than a dribble, which means it’s always better to play together rather than alone,” Bernat says.
It’s a key component of why Spain is considered an innovative team.