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*** GUYANESE MEN BASKETBALL MAIN PAGE ***
 | LABA' ELITE' BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 2008 | |
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| |  | LABA' ELITE' BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT STARTS ON MONDAY..
The Linden Amateur Basketball Associations Elite Summer Fest knock-out basketball
Championship which bounces of on Monday with the eight first division clubs contesting
a top prize of $80,000.
And the LABA will be holding a team briefing for the various competing teams
tomorrow (Saturday) at the Linden Online caf on Republic Avenue where the
rules for the tournament will be issued to clubs
The first division clubs are national champions Wismar Pistons, Kashif and Shanghai
Kings, Patriots, Alleyenes Retrieve Raiders, New Ballers, Victory Valley Royals,
Glands Trucking Service Bulls and Amelias Ward Jets.
The Elite promotions Inc has come on board as the tournaments major sponsors where
The losing finalist carts off $40,000 and a trophy and the third place finisher gets $20,000
and a trophy.
On Monday the first game will pit Wismar Pistons facing New Ballers at 18.30h or
6.30pm while at 20.30h or 8.30pm Glands Trucking Service Bulls play Amelias Ward
Jets.
On Wednesday the first game is between Patriots and Kashif and Shanghai Kings
And the second brings together Raiders and Royals.
The semifinals are fixed for next Friday at the same venue and the final the following
Friday August 29.
Each club is asked to send two representatives to that meeting which begins at 13.00h or
1.00pm failing which the defaulting club will be fined.. |
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| GABF 2008 INTER ASSOCIATION B/BALL | |
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| | | EAST BANK U-23 MALES BEAT NEW AMSTERDAM SCORE TWO POINT WINS OVER NA COUNTERPARTS
The East Bank Under-23 males scored A 67-65 win when they journeyed to the Vrymans Erving court last Saturday to play against New Amsterdam sides as the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation Inter-Association basketball championships resumed.
The East Bank Under 23s were able to come away with a two point win behind top scorers Tariq Cave with 19 points, Michael Richards with 14 and Rexell Aaron adding 10.
For the New Amsterdam team Randy Richardson finished with 12 points while teammates Joseph Robinson and Jevon Van-der-Stoop each netted 11 points.
The competition wil continue next Saturday in Linden when the New Amsterdam Under 23 male team clahes with the host team at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court in the mining town.
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| GABF ORGANISES WEEKEND BASKETBALL CLINICS | |
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| | | THREE FOREIGN COACHES EXPECTED TODAY
Three foreign basketball coaches will be here this weekend to conduct clinics tomorrow and Sunday and will leave Monday, compliments of the governing Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF).
National coach and GABF official Mr. Robert Cadogan said the coaches will arrive here on Friday and begin sessions for local coaches the next day at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The team comprises Mr. Larry Davis, one of the coaches of the senior mens team which participated in the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) senior basketball championships in Puerto Rico, Allan Ward who coaches Mexican Professional League side Nuevo Laredo Venedos and John Ledi who is head coach of Palo Alton out of San Antonio Texas.
In March this year Davis was here where he held discussions with local federation officials and visited a number of basketball courts in the country where he had a look at the facilities at hand. This is a follow-up to that initial visit and according to Cadogan.
In fact the three day clinics for the local coaches were originally expected to begin Friday, after the arrival of the team on Thursday.
However, the coaches will now arrive on Friday and begin sessions from 10.00h on Saturday where they will have a look at the Inter Guiana Games squad currently in training at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. In the evenings from 18.00h they will along with the local coaches have pick up games where they will look at prospective talent which will involve players at the Under 20 and 23 levels.
At the same time the federation is hoping that the coaches interested in attending these sessions will be identified registered with cardigan ahead of the clinics with the foreign coaches to conduct the clinics. |
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| PEPSI 2008 NATIONAL SCHOOLS | |
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| | | LTI SNEAK PAST KWAKWANI TO WREST PEPSI BASKETBALL TROPHY
REVENGE was sweet on Saturday evening for Linden Technical Institute (LTI) as they produced a terrific performance to sneak past Kwakwani High 78-74 in a hard-fought and entertaining final of the Pepsi National Schools Basketball Festival.
The two teams, who were also last year's finalists, had players returning from that tournament, but it was LTI who wanted the title more after missing out last year.
Kwakwanis previous victories in the tournament were the compliments of stiff, organised defence and a collective offence, marshalled by captain and point guard Shelroy Thomas. Their game plan was to play tough defence on the LTI unit, boasting several players comfortably over six feet in height.
However, it was their opponents who were able to better execute that plan.
LTI ensured that from the outset they shut down the support scorers of Kwakwani - Leron La Fleur, Dencil Plak and Marlon Russell - all of whom were a part of last year's team.
That left it all up to their captain Shelroy Thomas to carry the offence which was most times just a one-man attack.
Kwakwani came out with their tails up but were quickly reeled in by a composed LTI. Thomas went off injured with under seven minutes to play in the first half after landing on the foot of an opponent while contesting a ball.
The slight sprain that he endured kept him out of the remainder of the half. Initially, Kwakwani's defence withstood the test and at the third time-out of the half, LTI were up by only one (19-18).
But without Thomas the Kwakwani offence was toothless and his absence began to show. The bulky La Fleur had an off night. The highlight of his misery was a free throw that bounced no less than three times on the rim before falling outside. Teammate Russell was also struggling and Trevor Wilson (who had a slight strain going into the match) was unable to impose himself on the match.
Praise must be given to LTI for producing the sternest defensive test Kwakwani have faced in the tournament.
They used their superior height and body size to great advantage. Devon Wills of LTI showed brilliance in taking the ball to the basket but often failed to finish. Nevertheless LTI had the players to provide the points when they needed them.
The majority of the crowd supported the smaller lads (Kwakwani) but the Linden supporters lungs and boisterousness made up for their lack of numbers.
Roared on by their handful of supporters LTI went into the break with a slim four-point lead at 29-25.
Kwakwani came out after the break with a three-pointer from Thomas (who had iced and rested his ankle) to reduce the gap to one.
LTI were soon to have their own injury woes as Orin Rose went down and had to be helped off the court by teammates with just fewer than 16 minutes to play in the second half. However they were still creeping away since Kwakwani were still playing a one-man attack in Thomas.
Rose (on the bench) had some fiery words of encouragement for his colleagues during a time-out as victory looked within sight.
Dencil Plak, the tallest member of the Kwakwani outfit had a quiet night as the taller Travis Leitch and company from LTI negated the height advantage which he was able to exercise over previous opponents.
Kwakwani were in chase down mode as La Fleur managed to reduce the seven-point deficit to five but LTI's Keon Cameron, who took on a more commanding role in the second half, brought it back to seven. And so it continued.
With 10:51 to play Thomas reduced the gap to three and it remained so a minute and a half later. Rose announced his return to the court with a three-pointer from well outside the arc to spur his team on.
The game was beginning to slip away from the defending champions as the deficit increased to eight with under five minutes to play. Somehow hustling and bustling, Kwakwani managed to pull within four with 2:16 to play. But luck was also on the side of LTI this time around and a free throw from Orin Rose bounced thrice on the rim before dropping in.
Thomas eked out three points to pull his team within one but Cameron hit one of two free throws to put some breathing distance between the two schools.
Thomas once more pulled one out of the bag to tie the game with less than a minute to go. However Rose was not going to return to Linden for the second year without the Champions trophy as he fought his way to the basket and completed his play to the joy of LTI's bench and supporters. Kwakwani choked on their final possession and committed a foul that saw the last two points of the game being scored in free throws as LTI, who were celebrating before the final buzzer, redeemed themselves.
Thomas' game-high 43 points proved to be inadequate while Rose (21), Wills (10) and Cameron (10) were the chief scorers for LTI.
Thomas once more carted off the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
His teammate Dencil Plak was adjudged the Best Defensive Player while Stravin Etienne of Wismar-Christianburg Mulitlateral (Multi) was given the Most Prolific Scorer award. His school defeated President's College (who were awarded a trophy for displaying the best sportsmanship) to finish third.
Etienne led his team's scoring with 21 points while Richard Mohandat was PC's leading scorer with 17.
The earlier match-up had also produced excitement as Multi who dominated the match comfortably, eased up a bit towards the end and allowed PC to pull within six before clinching the win 52-44.
The tournament, which was also used to select players for the Inter-Guiana Games basketball squad, was lauded by Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony who presented the prizes and congratulated the teams.
(Courtesy Guyana Chronicle) |
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| NEWBALLERS/UPRISING ENTERTAINMENT EIGHT TEAM K.O BASKETBALL FINAL | |
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| | | PISTONS OVERWHELM RAIDERS 88-41 TO TAKE HONOURS
SENIOR National club champions Wismar Pistons took care of business when they captured the South Star New Ballers/Uprising Entertainment inaugural eight-team basketball championship with a 66-48 win on Monday night at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.
Led in the final by forward Trevor Profitt, who finished with a 17 team-high points with back support from captain Mark Louis and Quincy Jones with 14 points each and Shane Lewis with 10, Pistons fired their way to a win that was never in doubt.
After the first quarter the Pistons were leading 15-6 and at halftime were up by 11 points, 32-21, and by the end of the third quarter the Pistons were coasting at 44-28. Despite a valiant bid by the Raiders in the final stanza they eventually lost 66-48, never being able to lower the deficit below double digits.
Alexander Rose was the games top scorer with 22 points. Duane Lovell had eight points.
In the third-place playoff game, Victory Valley Royals were winners over Block 22 Flames.
The Royals were leading at halftime 39-12 after a first quarter 21-5. At the end of the third quarter the eventual winners had led by 30 points, 57-27, and when the game was over they had a 47-point advantage at 88-41.
Chris Williams had 22 points for the Royals with Lawrence Da Costa adding 16 and Dwight Cooper 11.
The best shoots for the Flames were Aubrey Johnson with 10 points and Devon Morrison, Sherwin Cameron and Patrick Clarke each netting six points.
Pistons, who are coached by Raphael Damon, won for themselves $40 000, a trophy and replicas, while the losing finalists Raiders were recipients of $20 000, a trophy and replicas. Royals were given $15 000, a trophy and medals and fourth-placers Block 22 Flames got $10 000 and a trophy.
Profitt received $5 000 for being named the MVP of the tournament |
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| Pepsi 2008 National Schools Basketball | |
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KWAKWANI HIGH DESTROY ST ROSES 65-19
DEFENDING National Schools Basketball champions Kwakwani High School sounded another warning to the pretenders of their title by decimating St Roses High in their match yesterday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Their 65-19 demolition of St Roses comes on the heels of their 43-8 annihilation of Central High on the first day Monday.
Captain and point guard Shelroy Thomas once more was at the centre of his teams performance. He scored 20 points and dished out numerous assists. One of his more spectacular assists had the small gathering spellbound at his master class.
However, the Kwakwani lads solid all-round play was the hallmark of their victory. Power forward Leron La Fleur contributed 12 points while centre Dencil Plak scored 10.
In an invited comment, Thomas mentioned that the team is motivated to take away the trophy once more, since they are doing it for the people of their community who are their biggest supporters.
He warned, If any team fails to prepare, let them prepare to fail. We want it.
Meanwhile, in the other match Wismar-Christianburg Multilateral defeated the Bishops High School 46-30.
Wismar-Christianburg Multilateral were out of the blocks faster than their opponents and were comfortably ahead but turnovers and poor defence allowed the city lads to pull within one at halftime, with the scores 22-21 at the interval.
On resumption Bishops sank two free throws to move one point ahead. However, that seemed to propel Wismar into action as they subsequently went on a 7-0 run with top scorer Stravin Ettienne (23 points), finding his range behind the arc.
From then on, Bishops play was fraught with indiscipline - unusual for their school - resulting in numerous turnovers and missed shots. Wismar eventually cruised to a comfortable 16-point victory.
(Courtesy of the Guyana Chronicle)
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| Ifill shines among Asias brightest stars | |
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| | | By Kiev Chesney (Starbroek News)
After shinning as one of the premier scorers in the Asian Basketball League, Andrew Ifill (197-G/F-79) has returned home for a breath of fresh air during the off-season break.
The 197cm (66) small forward played his rookie international basketball season with the Saudi Arabians An Naser Riyadh basketball team with whom he signed a one-year deal last October.
When I joined the team in late October, the season had already started and my coach told me that I have a lot of work to do, Ifill told Stabroek Sport in an exclusive interview.
The former Bounty Colts player did not back down from the challenge and instantly assumed the role of the primary scorer for his team.
The result was him finishing the season with an average 25 points per game (PPG), 10 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and 2.75 steals.
It was no easy task for me to get those numbers among some of Asias and Europes best players but I knew that I had the talent and I worked real hard over the years to get there so it was just a matter of me getting the work done when I got the opportunity, he recounted Ifill also revealed that the he had received offers from a few other teams in the league and may be changing teams depending on how lucrative the offers are.
Like the other international leagues, the Asian League has many former NBA players such as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (186-G-69, college: LSU) also known as Chris Jackson.
Ifill said that he thought his game had improved tremendously from playing professional basketball.
I have learnt lot from the experience of playing there because the fundamentals of the players are extremely high, he said.
However, I recognized that many of the players are not as athletic as the players in the NBA [National Basketball Association] and in some cases as some of the players that we have right here in Guyana.
Since I have been back I keep telling people that we have many players that can make it to play basketball professionally if they get the chance, he declared.
I have seen it with my own two eyes; we have a lot of talent here but only a few get the chance to shine abroad. I think that if sports in general and more specifically basketball in Guyana get more attention from the government our athletes can really go places, He said.
After discovering his love for the game at age seven, Ifill grew into one of the most promising `ballers that this country has produced.
He confessed that after being on the team which captured the Inter-Guiana Games title in 1996, he became determined to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional basketball player.
Ifill plans to focus on strength and speed training in the off-season followed by ball handling work as the break comes to a close.
He said that without persons who had helped and supported him from the start, including his family, his coach Phillip George, his fans, Rhondell Murphy, Godfrey Munroe, and Anthony de Hart it would not have been possible for him to achive his dream of playing professional basketball.
As far as making the jump to the NBA is concerned, Ifill said he would leave the negotiations up to his agents and would remain focused on trying to dominate in that league until an opportunity presents itself. |
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| BRUSCHES' CLASSIC BASKETBALL | |
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| | | JETS UPSET NATIONAL CHAMPIONS PISTONS TO REACH SEMIFIINALS
THE semifinals of the inaugural Brusches' Classic Knockout basketball tournament is set for tonight when the Jets, fresh from an upset victory over national champions Wismar Pistons, take on Courts Pacesetters of Georgetown at 18:00 h and Kashif and Shanghai Kings oppose Beepat Scorpions in the other match-up at 21:00 h at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.
Last Wednesday Amelias Ward Jets created an upset with a thrilling 68-65 victory against national champions Wismar Pistons when the invitational basketball championship, which was organised by the Kashif and Shanghai Kings basketball club, continued at the Christianburg hard court.
Playing in a game that saw the national club champions down by six points at the end of the first quarter 18-12 and still trailing at halftime by three 30-27 meant that the Jets were harbouring thoughts of winning a game which most observers thought they would have lost.
And by the end of the pivotal third quarter the combination of Akani Percival, Neil Simon and Odley Allen proved to be more than a test for the Pistons.
In the end the Pistons could not match the aggressive play of the Jets who maintained their composure and showed soundness in their execution.
Percival had 18 points, Simon 14 and Allen 11 for the winners while Mark Louis was the games highest scorer with 29 points while Quincy Jones had 11 and Shane Lewis 10.
To reach the semifinals Kings won against Victory Valley Royals while Scorpions beat Eagles. In the other match the Jets took out Pistons and Pacesetters downed GTS Bulls. |
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| BRUSCHES' CLASSIC BASKETBALL | |
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| | | JETS UPSET NATIONAL CHAMPIONS PISTONS TO REACH SEMIFIINALS
FACE PACESETTERS TONIGHT, KINGS PLAY SCORPIONS
THE semifinals of the inaugural Brusches' Classic Knockout basketball tournament is set for tonight when the Jets, fresh from an upset victory over national champions Wismar Pistons, take on Pacesetters of Georgetown at 18:00 h and Kashif and Shanghai Kings oppose Beepat Scorpions in the other match-up at 21:00 h at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.
Last Wednesday Amelias Ward Jets created an upset with a thrilling 68-65 victory against national champions Wismar Pistons when the invitational basketball championship, which was organised by the Kashif and Shanghai Kings basketball club, continued at the Christianburg hard court.
Playing in a game that saw the national club champions down by six points at the end of the first quarter 18-12 and still trailing at halftime by three 30-27 meant that the Jets were harbouring thoughts of winning a game which most observers thought they would have lost.
And by the end of the pivotal third quarter the combination of Akani Percival, Neil Simon and Odley Allen proved to be more than a test for the Pistons.
In the end the Pistons could not match the aggressive play of the Jets who maintained their composure and showed soundness in their execution.
Percival had 18 points, Simon 14 and Allen 11 for the winners while Mark Louis was the games highest scorer with 29 points while Quincy Jones had 11 and Shane Lewis 10.
To reach the semifinals Kings won against Victory Valley Royals while Scorpions beat Eagles. In the other match the Jets took out Pistons and Pacesetters downed GTS Bulls.
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Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation
P.O. Box 10563 Georgetown, Guyana
President: Godwin McPherson
Tels.: +592 227-1832/ 227-1161; Fax: +592 225-5640/ 226-6049
Email: dpa@solutions2000.net /
socaflea@yahoo.com
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