SO MUCH for Jamila Studer being available.
Barbados will be without another vet, and maybe their most important one yet, as the overseas-based pro had to be a last-minute scratch after failing to get clearance from her doctors to play in the upcoming Caribbean Basketball Confederation Championships in Tortola.
The news should come as no surprise considering Studer just gave birth to her first child about seven weeks ago in Switzerland.
The 31-year-old forward had shockingly announced her availability for the July 7 tournament a couple of weeks ago but the doctors inevitably shut Studer down until September.
“It is what it is and we’re hoping it really opens up an opportunity for someone else to stamp their authority so that the next time we pick a team it will be more difficult because we had other players that showed their worth at a Caribbean tournament,” said head coach Terry Inniss.
“Of course Jamila has represented Barbados on many occasions and she is a professional basketball player and when you miss her you’re missing a good player, a good leader and a good person.
“[But at least] it’s not a setback for the coaching staff [because] we prepared as if she would not be available. She became available two weeks before our final cut so it wasn’t a situation where she was planned to be heavily involved in our offence,” he added.
It’s just the latest setback for an extremely young and inexperienced team featuring ten regional rookies.
Studer’s absence leaves the team short on height as well, as the only traditional “bigs” on the team right now are rookie twin sisters Winmalecia and Winmarie Bowen as well as Canadian-based forward Dale-Marie Cumberbatch.
“We have to be fast because we are short so we aren’t going to get lay-ups over six-footers,” said team captain and former NCAA Division I guard Toni Atherley.
“We’re going to have to beat them down the floor but I think we’re in very good condition to do that, and like the coach said we’re going to compete, we’re not going to participate. So although we’re rebuilding I think we can still win games and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Even in Studer’s absence, there’s still no room for seasoned ball-handler Sade Clarke, with debutant point guard Tonya Corbin getting the nod as one of the two reserves.
Top scorer
However, the squad can look forward to Cumberbatch’s regional debut after the prolific Bajan-born Canadian became the all-time career scoring leader in history of Canadian college ball.
“What we saw of Dale-Marie is mostly on tape and she seems to be a very good offensive player so that will help us out greatly,” said Inniss.
“It will take some pressure off Toni, it will take some pressure off our offence so we are preparing to compete. We would have emailed all of our sets to Dale-Marie so it’s just a matter that we want to get in three practices before we play.” (JM)
