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Boys from the Beagles
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The Beagles Club always played basketball that was a class apart. Picking up nuances from there isn't a bad idea
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Subba Rao taking a shot like he always did; the basketball greats of yesteryear (below) -- Photos: Murali Kumar K.
GOLDEN OLDIES. This is no recollection of Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh or the versatile Lata Mangeshkar. Or for that matter, the unmatched Kishore da. The past masters of the music world live forever. It is more or less the same with the golden oldies of State basketball. It was rewind time at the Beagles court as the city's basketball greats of the bygone years assembled last week at the Beagles Basketball Club. The club felicitated them on the final day of the State Senior Division League.
Playing pride
Beagles themselves, the Young Pioneers before them or Bharath Sports Union produced players by the dozen. The tradition continues to this day, at least in the lower age categories, both in the boys and girls sections. But players from the past carried themselves with a sense of pride you don't see these days. The likes of Dr. Subba Rao or even Ramanujam, who revelled in dribbling skills and ball control in their heydays, did not bat an eyelid when asked to get on court and demonstrate their skills. True, some of them were playing from memory, but the nuances were not lost on the onlookers and a pretty good crowd had gathered by then.
The 10-minute game that the two teams indulged in saw a flurry of baskets, at least a dozen on either side, which by no means is a mean achievement.
"We still play every Sunday morning," says Jagannath of Beagles. "Otherwise, the day is not complete. We feel something is amiss," says the 57-year-old, whose twin brother, the prolific R.T. Vishwanath, is probably the only Indian to have scored a century of points in a 40-minute match.
In fine shape
Vishwanath, who tallied 106 points in ITI's State league match against Devanga, Anekal, way back in 1977, still is in fine shape. Ask him about his feat, Vishwanath is very courteous. "It was a good feeling. I was on a high, but then it was the team's showing that mattered most. No time to gloat on individual showing," says the unassuming man.
Vishwanath, however, did make a point on the lack of infrastructure and incentives in those times. "Companies (his own ITI included) gave only leave for the matches. There were no monetary benefits. But then there were lot more tournaments then. Even district-level tourneys were well contested as teams from Shimoga and Mysore, even Davangere, had talented players in their fold. Today, however, there is lack of commitment from the players despite vast improvements in facilities. Probably, we would have done a lot better if we had such facilities."
K. Raghunath was another of those who made a mark for his uncanny accuracy from far and near. "But it is sad there was no three-pointers during our days. Wherever we sunk the baskets, the tally would go up only by a couple of points. Today, the three point area is a definite advantage to teams with a decent shooter," feels the paunchy "Papachi", as he is still referred to in basketball circles. Raghunath, R. Jayaraj of Bharat Sports Union, along with his uncles Shivakumar and Jagannath, and R. Srinivasan were the first to take initiative to form a team of their own. With immediate support from the late B.V. Patankar, who put up a court in his own property, Beagles was born and still could be termed as the "nursery" for basketball in the city.
Rave reviews
The father figure in Bangalore's basketball, the late S.V. Appaiah who carved a niche for himself with his performances on court, won rave reviews from even foreign teams that visited the country.
This boosted the morale of the newly-formed team. His encouraging words also helped a great deal in the formative years.
During the Seventies, players such as G. Dilip, who, incidentally, is the only basketball Olympian (having represented the country in the Moscow Olympics in 1980) from the State even today commands respect for his forthright views and disciplined handling of the star-studded Vijaya Bank as its sports officer. Dilip, another of those affable characters, very hard to find these days, even to this day believes in a fitness regime which most of the current crop of players would hesitate to take up. "I am even thinking of promoting the three-man concept of competition which will enhance endurance as well as shooting prowess of players."
While M.C. Selvakumar, B.S. Goutham, S.V. Ganesh and V.C. Ravi are names that crop up when Beagles' contribution is referred to, contributions by V. Hariharan and J.E. Mohan, who have been carrying on the bastion with their coaching inputs have ensured that the club till date has a stream of players ready to take on the mantle.
AVINASH NAIR
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