An ailing basketball league suffering from a lack of fan support should spring back to life when the organizers stage their All Star weekend this weekend.
The National Community Basketball League (NCBL) was supposed to piggy back on the usual crowd support such tournaments have enjoyed in the past.
But not this time. The organizers tried every gimmick they could including showing matches of the NBA post season on giant television screens to no avail.
They have resorted to an age old format that never fails to work.
Bring in the Washington based DC Jammers basketball team and throw in another overseas-based team for good measure.
Ever since the DC Jammers team of Steven Nurse, Andre Lee, Pierre Goddette, Wille Hodges and company started playing at the Sports Hall, the fans have turned out in their numbers.
It is the last chance for the organizers who hope that by adding this new dimension to its tournament, the fans will return en masse.
The organizers have received another shot in the arm with EasyJet joining forces to transport the DC Jammers and the Brooklyn/Queens Bulldogs in for what should be an unforgettable three nights of basketball.
A Guyana National Team along with the NCBL All Stars will also participate in the competition.
The Allstar weekend will feature a round-robin competition among the Brooklyn/ Queens Bulldogs, DC Jammers and the Guyana National Team with each team playing each other once while the NCBL All Stars will feature in a supporting game this coming Saturday against the Bulldogs.
“Well the whole concept of having the weekend is to bring a much higher level of basketball to Guyana and more importantly the national team.
“The national team have not been together since their Caribbean Basketball Championships (CBC) last year in Bahamas and with it approaching this year we thought it would be great for them to start seeing good competition,” Kwame Mentor one of the organizers told Stabroek Sport yesterday in an interview.
There is also expected to be the much anticipated dunk fest which it is said will bring the flare back to basketball in Guyana while the three-point shoot out is also another aspect that should excite sports fans. “I think the dunking is a lost art in Guyana and hopefully the dunk fest will bring some flare back.
“Since I’m here I haven’t seen a dunk yet and as players fans look for this especially when you’re on a breakaway you want to see dunk instead of a lay up…you just cant take the fans for granted but they are a lot of talented guys here that can add something to the fest,” Mentor opined about the contest.
Another interesting aspect of the tournament will be the match-up between the Guyana National team and the Brooklyn/Queens Bulldog.
The Bulldogs will constitute Guyanese who play basketball outside of Guyana, some in Mexico, some in the USA and some regionally.
They will face the local national team in a match-up that can possibly help determine the national squad for the next year’s CBC games.
For the first time officials will probably get to see all the overseas Guyanese play basketball at once and this can only benefit Guyana on a whole especially since the team has not been together for a while and needs a boost,” Mentor told Stabroek Sport.
Further the league is expected to also see the players doing interviews and clinics during the packed weekend for basketball in Guyana. Ticket prices for the three nights will be set at $1000.
