Basketball City, St.Kitts (October 9th 2011):-The Challengers Exodus are the 2011 SKABA A division Champions after they swept the Cayon Lions in the Best of 3 finals series.
Challengers continued their dominative play in the division in the finals series against Cayon sweeping the Green Valley team to easily win the A division title.
Challengers led from whistle to whistle beating the Cayonites in every quarter ending the first half up 41-30. The second half was equally as dominating for the Exodus as Shawn Shabba Forbes seemed to be an unstoppable force scoring almost at will against the pesky defense of Cayon.
The game ended with Challengers recording an impressive 86-73 victory to cap a phenomenal season for the rural west team. Challengers will now be promoted to the Premier Division for the first time in team history. Cayon also will be promoted to the Premier Division after being relegated just last year thus proving that they are truly a Premier Division team.
Shawn ' Shabba' Forbes (198-F) had a game high 30 pts 7 rebs, 3 blks while teammate Jerome Archibald had 9 pts and 9 rebs.
Tyrone Ty OLoughlin led Cayon with 11pts, 4 rebs, 5 assists and teammate Jamone Isaace was 1 rebound and 2 assists shy of a triple double with 12 pts, 9 rebs and 8 assists.
Shawn Forbes was named player of the game as well as finals and regular season MVP
Jeffers new St Kitts-Nevis President - 2 months ago
Business Executive Mr Glen Jeffers has moved into the leadership of the new management of the St.Kitts-Nevis Amateur Basketball Association St.Kitts-Nevis Amateur Basketball Association voted unanimously to appoint former President of the SKNAAA on Thursday, in a step toward reform for an organization which has in the past few years has seen a significant decline in the level and quality of management, operations, officiating, development and transparency. Jeffers and his new team were... [read more]
Business Executive Mr Glen Jeffers has moved into the leadership of
the new management of the St.Kitts-Nevis Amateur Basketball Association
St.Kitts-Nevis Amateur Basketball Association voted unanimously to
appoint former President of the SKNAAA on Thursday, in a step toward
reform for an organization which has in the past few years has seen a
significant decline in the level and quality of management, operations,
officiating, development and transparency.
Jeffers and his new team were all elected unanimously and unopposed.
There were two possitions that were not voted on and those were the
posts of Assistant Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. Those positions
will be voted on during the association next general meeting. In comments after the vote, Jeffers said that his teams focus will be
on grassroots development in addition to improvements in Officiating,
Public Relations, Discipline, Financial Accountability and Transparency
and Facility development.
Jeffers stated that his new team will pursue reforms that would
cover all aspects of the game in St.Kitts-Nevis, from the national team
to youth and grassroots programs.
PRIDEKINGS reign as the 2017 SKNABA Premier League Champions! The Sandy Point PRIDEKINGS won the 2017 St. Kitts Nevis Amateur Basketball Association (SKNABA) Championship on Thursday night. In the fourth game of a possible five-game series, PRIDE defeated the 2016 champions - the St. Paul's Tuff Knots, 84-79. And the victory gave the PRIDE organization it's first premier league championship and second SKNABA title in just 2 years of existence. It is a satisfying end to a season for a t... [read more]
PRIDEKINGS reign as the 2017 SKNABA Premier League Champions!
The Sandy Point PRIDEKINGS won the 2017 St. Kitts Nevis Amateur Basketball Association (SKNABA) Championship on Thursday night.
In the fourth game of a possible
five-game series, PRIDE defeated the 2016 champions - the St. Paul's
Tuff Knots, 84-79. And the victory gave the PRIDE organization it's
first premier league championship and second SKNABA title in just 2
years of existence.
It is a satisfying end to a season for a
team that saw their roster significantly reduced for a number of
reasons, including the loss of one of it's brightest and youngest stars Secada Garroden,
but on Thursday night, when time ran out at Basketball City, the KINGS
and all its fans could finally celebrate a championship.
The win represents the ascension of a
team that had only joined the SKNABA league in 2015, who in it's first
year ran the table at the A-Division level to go an impressive 19-0.
Then after being promoted to the island's premier league, recruited
other seasoned talented front court players to join its nucleus of back
court assassins.
A balanced offensive attack helped to
seal the deal, with five KINGS scoring in double digits for the 5th
consecutive game of their 2017 playoff run. Taslin Dont-Cheat Hodge, the early favorite for finals MVP tallied 22 points 2 steals and 4 assists.
The youngest and arguably one of the fiercest competitors on the King's championship roster- Cha Vez Belboda also played a key role with 22 points and 5 steals.
Graeme Browne
, the hero from Saturday's overtime Game 4 win, finished with 13 points
10 rebounds 2 steals and 2 blocks. National front court player and
PRIDE center Jazbu Troy Wattley registered a solid double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. While the team's floor general - Javal Hodge clocked 10 points 7 assists 4 steals in 37 minutes of directing on court traffic and pushing the pace.
While the two sides were close in a
low-scoring first quarter, a 7-0 run helped the KINGS to gain the early
advantage to take a 4 point lead into half.
The momentum stayed with the lions, who
weathered a valiant effort from the Tuff Knots big men and seemed to
make a big play whenever St. Paul's tried to come back.
The fourth-quarter defensive focus and
game management was all that was needed for the KINGS to slam the door
on any chance of a comeback and secure it's first championship!
It was truly a magical run which
culminated on Thursday night with chants of 'Hub hub hub' and an
overwhelming display of PRIDE by all in attendance.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Sports and SP PRIDE KING Big
Fan Hon. Shawn K. Richards was on hand to witness the historic victory.
In commenting DPM Richards said 'I must express my tremendous PRIDE and
joy in the achievement tonight of the SP Pride Kings. In this their
inaugural entry in the Premier Division the Pride Kings are Champions .
It is a great achievement by a tremendous sporting organisation group
and basketball team.'
All hail the PRIDEKINGS, your 2017 SKNABA Premier League Champions!!
The concept of an NBA prospect having a 'high ceiling is something that's often discussed, but rarely defined. Is this the most exciting thing we can say about a player on draft night, meaning that, someday, he could become that franchise cornerstone every team needs? Or are we saying that a player has the physical attributes and the athletic prowess to round into a phenomenal basketball player, if he puts in the hard work and gets some lucky breaks? Or is that term a backhanded complime... [read more]
The concept of an NBA prospect having a 'high ceiling' is something
that's often discussed, but rarely defined. Is this the most exciting
thing we can say about a player on draft night, meaning that, someday,
he could become that franchise cornerstone every team needs?
Or are we saying that a player has the physical attributes and the
athletic prowess to round into a phenomenal basketball player, if he
puts in the hard work and gets some lucky breaks? Or is that term a
backhanded compliment of sorts, where a talent evaluator is saying that,
yes, the player has enormous natural abilities, but that he never
reached that high potential in college?
Is 'high ceiling' the best thing you can say about a prospect, or is
it the worst? A blessing or a curse? Leading into the 2014-15 college
season, Karl-Anthony Towns was spoken about as a high-ceiling player. Turns out he's reaching that ceiling in the NBA already. But remember: Cliff Alexander
was considered a better college recruit than Towns, and he was spoken
about in the same high-ceiling sort of way. Alexander had a miserable
college season at Kansas, went undrafted, and was last seen playing for the Nets - the Long Island Nets, that is, of the D-League. He never even sniffed his high ceiling.
And so it is with both excitement and a bit of trepidation that I'm slapping the 'highest ceiling in the 2017 NBA Draft' label on Jonathan Isaac, the tall, athletic, versatile one-and-done forward from Florida State.
He fits the 'high ceiling' bill: Isaac has the athletic abilities to
wow people in the NBA. He has the body that ought to fill out, a rangy
6-11 frame that his college coach told me could still be growing. And he
has a skill set that is rare for a big man, as a late growth spurt
turned him from a slender 6-foot-6 high school wing overlooked in the
top tier of college recruiting into a near 7-footer with the playmaking
and shooting abilities of a guard.
Jonathan Isaac has the highest ceiling of any player in the NBA Draft. USATSI
Needless to say, Isaac's ceiling has NBA scouts drooling. One scout
told me Isaac is the one player in this draft he sees as being in the
rarefied air of 'freak NBA athletes,' a term the scout reserves for
players like LeBron Jamesand Paul George and just a handful of others.
So is this label a blessing? Or is it a curse, the idea that in the future this player could outperform his past?
The answer depends, I believe, on the individual. An arrogant young
man who hears this talk about himself can get lazy. He can see himself
as The Anointed One and not put in the work. This is the type of player
for whom the 'high ceiling' label will become a curse.
Luckily, this is not the case with Jonathan Isaac. And because of not
only his basketball attributes but also his grounded and humble
personality, I earnestly believe that five years from now we could look
back at the 2017 NBA Draft and say, 'How the hell did a player like
Jonathan Isaac last all the way until the seventh pick?!?'
'There's no question about it,' Isaac's college coach, Leonard
Hamilton, told me the other day, agreeing with me on both Isaac having
the highest ceiling in this draft and the constitution to live up to the
label. 'Jonathan is an extremely humble person, but he's also a very
hard worker, extremely focused. Of all the players I've coached, he
comes in as a youngster with an extremely high basketball IQ, one of the
highest basketball IQs I've seen. He sees the game through a mature set
of eyes, almost coach-like. He values all the little things that are
important about the game.'
That's exactly the type of mentality that turns a high-ceiling player
into an NBA All-Star. A nationally respected evaluator of high school
basketball talent - someone who has watched Isaac develop for years -
told me what jumps out to him most about Isaac's game is how unselfish
he is (he also referred to Isaac as a 'mini Kevin Durant,'
if that gives you any sense of Isaac's ceiling). He's not the type of
player who is so concerned about filling up the box score. He knows that
he'll get his. Instead, he's out there to make his team better, not
just make himself look good.
In an NBA that spreads the floor like it does, Isaac is the type of
player who fits the modern league like a glove. He's a near 7-footer who
can put the ball on the floor and knock down 3s, which he did at a 35
percent clip in college at an average of nearly three attempts per game.
He rebounds in traffic, he makes free throws, he doesn't pass up open
looks, he makes the pass that leads to the pass that gets the assist. He
was the most effective shot-blocker and rebounder for one of the
tallest teams in college basketball. But what Hamilton believes will
make him most valuable in the NBA isn't necessarily just his
effectiveness close to the rim. It's that he's as comfortable under the
rim as he is out on the perimeter - on offense, and on defense. There's
not a big man in this draft who'll be as effective switching on
pick-and-rolls as Isaac is.
'He has the versatility to be whatever a coach wants him to be,'
Hamilton told me. 'He's so rare in terms of having such a talented guy
who just really, really gets it. He's a confident person. He'll respect
authority and respect the culture of the team, but he'll speak up when
there's something that needs to be talked about. He's not a 'yes' man.
He respects right from wrong. He's the kind of young man parents want
their kids to grow up to be.'
Look, I am well aware that NBA teams
won't be making their selections on draft night based on whether a
player seems like a nice young man or a guy with a nose for trouble. The
fact that Hamilton raves about how enthusiastic of a cheerleader Isaac
was for his teammates when he was on the bench won't register with NBA
teams. But you better believe that in a draft that's chock-full of
players with all the measurable basketball attributes you'd ever want,
it'll be those personal intangibles that can turn a player from 'high
ceiling' into 'franchise cornerstone.'
I can't say with 100 percent certainty that Isaac will make that
leap. That's why the NBA draft is always filled with so much intrigue;
these young men are unfinished canvasses onto which we can project our
own hopes and desires. One of the highest ceilings in recent memory was
Greg Oden and, through a rash of misfortunes, he became a historic bust.
And nobody was talking about the high ceiling of a player like Draymond Green
on draft night. Green became one of the biggest steals in NBA draft
history. There are so many factors at play on whether a player falls
short of or far exceeds his potential.
But I do know this: When you take the whole package with Jonathan
Isaac - the phenomenal physical profile, the off-the-charts basketball
IQ, the humility, the focus - he strikes me as the rarest of
high-ceiling players. He's the high-ceiling prospect who could also be
the safest of bets. Times Caribbean
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