Guyana’s senior men’s basketball team will commence their campaign in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Pre-Qualifiers this evening, when they oppose Nicaragua from 21:00hrs at the José Adolfo Pineda National Gymnasium in El Salvador.
Guyana, who will be without the services of Timothy Thompson following a positive COVID-19 test, will be led by Stanton Rose, captain of the victorious (FIBA) AmeriCup 2021 Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers team. The other members of the squad are siblings Delroy and Gordon James, Deylon Anthony, Anthony Moe, Travis Belgrave, Harold Adams, Akeem Crandon, Terron Welsh, Israel Yaw and Nicholai Smith.
Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) President, Michael Singh, during a pre-match comment, affirmed that the combination of foreign and overseas based players, provides the team will the necessary quality to secure a positive result. He added, “I think the depth of our team with our foreign players and the energy of the locals, I think we have a good chance of competing and beating Nicaragua,” he declared.
According to Singh, the presence of Anthony Moe and Delroy James in the playing roster, gives added value as both players have competed in the Latin American circuit, which is certainly beneficial to the coaching staff on identifying and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition.
He explained, “I know they are looking at tape and we have both Anthony Moe and Delroy James who have played in the BCL which is Latin American area, in Nicaragua and El Salvador, so they would know a lot about the Latin American players. We are confident, coming out of the training camp once we play as a team and utilize a collective team effort, we should pull through.”
Guyana’s next match will be against recent entrant Jamaica tomorrow at 18:00hrs. On Saturday, the Guyanese will oppose El Salvador from 21:00hrs, with their final group match occurring against Costa Rica from 21:00hrs on Sunday.
The first round of qualifiers will be conducted utilising a group format with the top three finishers progressing to the second round of qualifiers slated for July 2021.
