Basketball: Veteran coach Veselin Matic appointed coach for Indian Men's team

Amidst continued reports of in-fighting between players and performances of the Men's National Basketball team dwindling over time, Basketball Federation of India has appointed veteran coach Veselin Matic as the national men's team coach. The stalwart has recently coached the Iran and Syrian basketball teams before this. While the Indian women's team has seen steady improvement under coach Zoran Visic, the same trajectory has not been followed by the men's team. They had lost out all three of their games at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. Post that, Visic had taken temporary charge of the team for the Asian qualifiers for the FIBA World Cup but they again failed to register a win in all their first round Group games. In this context, Matic definitely comes with an impressive resume.

• He led Iran to their first ever World Championship qualification in 2010.
• This came immediately after their Asian Championship title in 2009 which they won after beating China.
• In addition to coaching Iran and Syria, Matic has also coached the Polish and Lebanese Basketball teams previously.

"He is an experienced coach and someone who can improve the team while also setting the groundwork for coaches in the country. We will have regular zonal coaching camps and clinics for coaches,” BFI secretary general Chander Mukhi Sharma was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express. As the Indian team did not qualify for the World Cup, there is no chance that they will be making an appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. So, as coach, Matic's first test is going to be the William Jones Cup where India will reportedly participate. Matic's main claim to fame can be his stint with the Syrian team which defied expectations by qualifying for the second round of World Cup qualifiers and their feat effectively was a huge boost for Asian Basketball. Good days for Indian basketball ahead?