Chennai slam their way to finals

Result: Chennai Slam (Cammy Carmel 27pts 7asts 6stls, Gopal Ram 26pts, Arjun GK 15pts 10rbs, Chukwunanu Agu 14pts 8asts) bt Pune Peshwas (Siddhanth Shinde 29pts, Narender Grewal 24pts 10rbs, Ajinkya Mehta 12pts 9rbs) 97-76 (26-16, 21-19, 30-14, 20-27)

The second and last game of the semifinals at the ongoing United Basketball Alliance (UBA) Pro Basketball League Season 2 that is underway at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium was between archrivals in the southern division, Pune Peshwas and defending champions Chennai Slam.

The Peshwas were riding on the momentum of their game winner in the previous match, hoping to knock Chennai out of the tournament. However, the defending champions had other plans, getting off to a rollicking start. Slam centre Gopal was effective as usual in the paint overwhelming the smaller Pune frontcourt.

The Chennai backcourt consisting of Nigerian point guard Chukwunanu Agu and shooting guard Cammy Carmel was electric, putting on a show from start to finish. Cammy started the game pulling up, getting to his spots and hitting mid-range buckets. Agu knocked down his first couple of freethrows and followed that up with a triple.

Pune’s hero in Game 2, Narender Grewal stayed true to form, penetrating and finishing in the paint as well as finding his touch from long range. Despite his play, Chennai raced off to a 10-point lead at the end of the first. The second quarter witnessed up-and-down play from both teams. Shinde knocked down a couple of triples in the first half, coupled with Narender’s strong drives. Coach’s son Ajinkya Mehta came off the bench to hit an unexpected 3 for Pune along with a reverse layup on the next possession to provide a much needed offensive boost to Pune.

But Chennai kept their scoring going led by Gopal and Agu. Gopal could not miss in the first half, ending up scoring all 6 of his attempts. Pune was always a step behind Agu, finding it difficult to handle his speed and athleticism. In the second half, it was the Cammy show. The shooting guard, who has been putting up quiet numbers through the tournament, had a breakout game, owing the second half.

Pune had no answer for Cammy, as he had his way with the Peshwas’ defense. He put his full bag of tricks on display today, penetrating with ease and finishing with skill. Both Agu and Cammy were also creating easy buckets for their teammates.

Narender (24 points) and Shinde (29 points) were the only aggressors for Pune, draining their triples and getting inside to score. Shinde had 9 triples in the game, but most of them came a little too late as Chennai kept building on their lead with lackluster defense from Pune.

The fourth quarter was all about ‘styling and profiling’ for Chennai, as they gave the crowd something to cheer about. Carmel was on fire on his way to almost a quadriple-double with 27 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals. “I was thinking too much in the previous games. Today, I just zoned everything else out. Once I got my first few shots, my confidence was high and I stayed aggressive,” said player of the match Cammy after the game.

“The south division this year was especially hard because any team could click on a given day. The entire credit goes to our defense. Defense led to easy transition buckets.” said championship-winning Chennai coach Ravi Kumar.The defending champions have set a date with the Delhi Capitals in a best-of-three finals, starting this Friday.