Even with the likelihood that they’ll head home without a win, the Sri Lankan Natonal Basketball Team is just happy to be in Tianjin, China for the Asia Basketball Championships.

A day before the tournament began on August 6th, Sri Lanka almost had to pull out because they needed financial assistance for the team’s airfare.

According to the report, unless a corporate sponsor came through at the eleventh hour; Sri Lanka would not be able to participate in the Asia Basket tournament, their first time at the tournament in 15 years.

On August 5th, no sponsor had stepped forward.  No news could be found on Sri Lanka news sites, or from FIBA, regarding whether the team would make it to Tianjin or not. There were rumours that another national team would replace them in the tournament.

But on Wednesday morning August 6th, the day the championships would begin, Sri Lanka’s basketball team strolled into King Hall Hotel’s cafeteria in Tianjin for breakfast without much explanation on how they got there.

Sri Lanka: A Developing Basketball Country
As with many developing countries in Asia and Africa, Sri Lanka has many, more pressing problems than focusing on a sport that isn’t cricket or soccer.

Because there is no demand for basketball success in Sri Lanka, finances for the developing sport are significantly lacking.  Without the money, it severely hampers a team’s ability to procure equipment, facilities, and technology, not to mention employing staff.

Without the right facilities and technology, communication and basketball development is stunted.

“We have very few indoor courts, and 90 percent of the time we play outside,” said Ignatius Canegaretnam, vice president of the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation.

A scan of their official team page on FIBA.com shows no positions listed, no place of birth, and no previous experience (not that they don’t have any, it’s just not listed).

One piece of information that stood out?

The average height of the Sri Lankan national team is 5-foot-11 (181cm).

“We don’t know anything about (Sri Lanka),” said Yeng Guiao, Philippines coach, whose team would first face Sri Lanka.“We have no scouting report on them and we haven’t seen them play.”

Work in Progress
In Sri Lanka’s first game, the small island would get blasted by Team Philippines, losing by a whopping 84 points, 115-31.

Undersized Sri Lanka wouldn’t score reach double-digits in any one quarter, registering just 9, 8, 9, and 5 points in each respective quarter.

“Basketball is still at the developmental stage in Sri Lanka.” said coach Guiao after the Sri Lanka-Philippines match. “If these were cricket, they would have beaten us badly.”

The comment drew a smile from Sri Lankan coach Ajith Kuruppu.

“This is our first game in the Asian Championship since 1995 in Seoul, and the Philippines is really a strong team. We hope to improve through the next matches,” said Kuruppu.

The next day, Sri Lanka was destroyed by Korea, 122-54, a margin of 68 points.  The Koreans hit 25 of 51 three-pointers..

Despite a 0-41 record in Asian Basketball Championships, it is still very important for these teams to represent; to play quality opponents, and to develop their basketball program.  This is the first time in 15 years that a Sri Lankan basketball team has been able to qualify for the tournament.

“One of the reasons we play (in Asia Basket), we’re preparing for the South Asian Federation Games in Dhaka (Bangladesh) in January.” said Canegaretnam.

“ Of course, the main reason is to make basketball catch up with cricket and soccer in Sri Lanka.”

Links and Resources: Official Sri Lanka Basketball Federation (SportingPulse), Sri Lankan NT may not make to Asia Championships (Interbasket), Asia Championships Basketball Forum (Interbasket), Without support, Cameroon plays for pride, family (Interbasket)