The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MARIO Bowleg, president of the Bahamas Basketball Federation, feels that he selected the right coach to lead the boys’ national basketball team at the FIBA Centrobasket Under-17 Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Grand Bahamian Quinton ‘Three Ounce’ Hall led the coaching staff that guided the team to the bronze medal with an 85-84 victory over the Dominican Republic at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum on Sunday.

In the process, the Bahamas qualified once again for the 2020 FIBA Under-18 Tournament of Americas where the four top teams will advance to the Under-19 Basketball World Cup.

“I was very elated and very happy with their performances,” Bowleg said. “2012 was the first time that we would have qualified for the Tournament of Americas and Quinton Hall was the coach that took us there.

“I put a lot of assurance in him. I told him that it’s been too long since we had a team at the Tournament of Americas. I’ve been there (coaching) a few times and Ivan Butler was another coach, but I told him before we start changing the guard, he needs to take us back there.” Bowleg said it was obvious that Hall was able to develop the unity with his coaching staff that included Mark Hanna, Kevin Clarke and Denycko Bowles. Delva Francis served as the manager.

“I felt those guys had a good chemistry and they worked with the team and came together with a good conclusion,” Bowleg said. “I’m happy that they moved to the next level and I’m looking forward to them improving on that team and trying to medal next year.”

While the juniors are done for the year, the focus switches back to the men’s national programme.

The Bahamas has been placed in Group D for the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifiers, starting in February. The Bahamas is matched in the same group with the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

The draw was done last week Tuesday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the site where the men’s under-17 clinched their bronze medal and advanced to the Tournament of Americas.

“We feel our chances are just as good, even if we were in the other group,” Bowleg said. “We have played very well against teams like Puerto Rico and Mexico in the past, so with players like “Tum Tum” (Lourawls Nairn) and the other guys who are home, we feel we will have a much better team this time around.”

Chris DeMarco, of the Golden State Warriors, will be serving as the new men’s head coach, replacing Bowleg. He will be working with assistant coaches Norris Bain from Grand Bahama, Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson and Steve Barnes, an American who is working with the programme.

Starting on August 10, Bowleg said they will begin the process of putting together the men’s national team and they will get a chance to play against some of the visiting college teams like Memphis, Texas Tech and Georgetown during the second week of the Summer of Thunder.

“So we want the public to come out and see what their potential national team would look like against these division one schools and DeMarco in action before we begin to play in the AmeriCup Qualifier next year.

“I’m hoping that when the schedule is set, we get to play the United States in the June months when we would have Buddy Hield and DeAndre Ayton playing for us and they have their NBA players. I know people say you would want to test them when they are weaker, but I think the country would like to see the United States at their best and we are at our best.”

For the Summer of Thunder, Bowleg said they envision having players like Keno Burrows, Danrad ‘Chicken’ Knowles, DeShon Taylor, Eugene Bain, Michael Bain and Mavin Saunders, just to name a few.

Bowleg said the federation is working feverishly to ensure that a quality team is put together to represent the Bahamas to prepare for the AmeriCup Qualifier next year when the stakes are much higher.

The 2021 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifier will begin in February 2020 and will qualify the top 12 teams to participate in the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup. The 2021 AmeriCup will serve as a qualifier for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.