In this week’s ON THE BALL column, NATION basketball writer Justin Marville continues his weekly review of the Premier League.
HAS THE fate of the league ever shifted so much over the course of one 24-hour span?
I sincerely doubt that, before last weekend’s slate of what were supposed to be absolutely meaningless matchups.
Just in case you missed it, Cougars added another valuable piece to their championship cog in American guard Vanrossi Holder. Former MVP Corey McDonald finally completed his year-long relocation from Dayrells Road to Princess Royal. Then there was that little issue of some guard named Jeremy Gill taking his talents to the Pine.
To recap, that’s two former MVPs, one player who’s widely regarded as Barbados’ best and a foreigner with game-changing talent all hitching their wagons to teams that already had massive title-winning expectations.
Seems the NBA doesn’t have the patent on stars coming together to form super teams after St John’s appeared to start the bidding war by bringing in Ramon Simmons and Rahiim Gibbons to join Akeem Marsh in the offseason.
But the arms race may yet have more deadly deals as St John’s are still awaiting word from George Haynes and Jefferson Trotman, while Lakers should be expecting the return of overseas-based point guard Chiamaka Browne any time now.
If that wasn’t enough, Cougars’ already loaded bench will get a further boost once Anthony “Bill” White comes back from injury, and Warrens still have a certain quartet of veteran star players that has yet to play a single game thus far.
Want to compete this season? Better get a Big Three or go on a big shopping spree.
Who said basketball was dead, again? Well, maybe I did, but then again what do I know?
• With yet another domino falling in Clapham, someone needs to be made accountable for the mess that is currently Bulls’ basketball, and you don’t have to be Dr Watson to have a clue about who the finger is being pointed at.
It’s elementary that Andrew Ifill needs to own up for the community outfit’s now public debacle, unless El Presidente truly doesn’t believe the buck should stop with him as head of the club.
I know tradition has always been for the Bulls to run, but they’re all running right out of Clapham one after the other and I just don’t believe in coincidences.
First it was Barry Rock, head coach of both the Premier League and women’s squads, who decided to call it quits this offseason after seven very successful years with both sides.
Then came the turn of the entire women’s team – who won the last two league titles – to break out of Dodge and leave the club without a single female unit.
Now Gill, arguably the country’s best player, and a host of other key top-flight players have left town like a Midwest settlement that has run out of oil.
Remember when the future of Bulls basketball looked oh so bright, when Clapham were busy winning junior titles in 2007 and 2010?
Well, none of the players from either title-winning squad currently ply their trade for Clapham’s top flight, and that includes prospects like Rahiim Gibbons, Stefan Yard, Daniel Lovell, Damian McClean, Sean Parris, Ramon Byer, Lorenzo Thorpe and Shane Rock.
I’m not sure which charge is more damning, but it sure looks bad on Ifill’s rap sheet that a two-time champion side would refuse to come back to defend its title, and that none of the club’s touted juniors is there to prop up the Premier League squad.
Maybe Ifill isn’t responsible for any of these occurrences. Maybe they’re all coincidence. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s time for someone to own up to all the bleeding.
• Scoring generally goes up when basketball moves from the Wildey Gym to the Barbados Community College, but, boy, is Keefe Birkett making hay when the sun shines!
By my count, that’s 62 points in two games for the man with the green shoes, following a 35-point performance against Clapham and 27 more hot ones versus Challengers.
And the points tallies might not be the most impressive part of the streak, more so than how he’s accumulating them, as Birkett has hit an unthinkable 14 treys.
I wouldn’t hazard a guess about what will happen to that hot hand when play inevitably goes back to the Gym, but I’m guessing Birkett doesn’t want to have to either.
