“Visu Palani can beat anyone in ball control, his dribbling skills invariably making him come out trumps in one-on-one situations,” said former Indian basketball captain Hari Krishna Prasad. “Young, but very talented, he’s an accomplished shooter, who goes for a lot of assists,” the three-time Asian Basketball Confederation championship hoopster told The Hindu .
“Visu is the Bjorn Borg of Indian basketball,” observed Norman Isaac. “Not flustered even by the most blatant fouls, he’s calm, stable and mature when switching roles of ball handler and forward. What sets him apart is that he uses one arm to shoot, without a supporting hand, even when targeting the ring from a distance,” said the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Commissioner.
The Tuticorin-native averaged 20 points for Telangana in the recent senior National championship at Chennai, even logging 33 in one game with as many as eight three-pointers.
“An intelligent schemer, few can stop him. His anticipation in defence is excellent, finding him faster to the ball than players on the offence. A selfless player, its not surprising that he gets along well with his teammates,” added Isaac, chairman, technical commission, Basketball Federation of India (BFI)
“Visu is an athletic player who uses his speed and jumping ability to get to the rim and finish. He also shoots the ball well from the 3-point-line. He is a really good defender on the perimeter as well. What I appreciate most is that he is constantly improving his fitness skill sets and is very ‘coachable,’” noted Jon Kimberlin, United Basketball Alliance (UBA) league Assistant Coach.
“The UBA league came in handy to showcase his abilities,” said Puneeth Suresh, Head Coach of Bangalore Beast and Jain University. “When he joined our university, he had a language problem but soon went on to play for Karnataka,” he said. Jain University clinched the bronze from among 750 varsities at the all India competition at Satyabhama University.
“When we see a rival player scoring, I task Visu to mark him. Sure enough, the opposition’s scoring declines,” said Suresh, who added Visu couldn’t go to the US for further training due to visa issues.
“Visu’s very disciplined and that’s the reason for his consistency in three seasons,” explained Thimmaiah Madanda, Vice President, Operations, UBA.
“After the UBA experience, this time I could score a lot more. I feel that people only got to know me after UBA, when they could see me play on live TV,” said Visu, who acknowledged the support of coaches Sathiya Sankar at SAV Higher Secondary School in Tuticorin and Suresh at Jain University. The teenager led the UBA in steals in season three and shot 54% from three-point range in season four.
