By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
SEVERAL senior men’s national basketball team members recently opened their respective seasons across various professional leagues in Europe and South America.
David Nesbitt had a successful debut week with Boca Juniors in Argentina’s Liga Nacional de Básquet and averaged 8.2 points per game as the team got out to a 4-0 start.
He finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists in Tuesday’s 78-60 win over Gimnasia. He opened the season with six points and five rebounds in a 78-60 win over San Lorenzo, followed by 12 points and four rebounds off the bench in an 86-77 win over Penarol and four points in a 97-69 win over Ferro.
Nesbitt made the move to Argentina after a four-year tenure in Brazil’s Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB).
The veteran 6’6” forward spent last season with Minas Belo Horizonte.
In 31 games, he averaged 10.4 points and 5.5 points per game en route to being named an NBB All-Star.
Minas finished with the second best record in the league, reached the semifinals and finished third in FIBAs Basketball Champions League Americas Final.
Domnick Bridgewater helped Sapela 13 to get back into the win column and improved to 2-1 on the young season.
The 21-year-old point guard finished with 15 points, nine assists and four rebounds in an 84-56 win over SMUC in France’s NM2 League.
Bridgewater finished with 34 points, 10 assists and five steals to lead Sapela 13 to a 104-99 win over Sorgues BC in the season opener.
In game two, he finished with 21 points in an 80-60 loss to Montbrison Masculins BC.
A member of the FOS-Sur-Mer Byers of the Pro B League, Bridgewater was placed on loan to Sapela Basket 13 for the second consecutive season. In his short four-game stint with Sapela 13 last year before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19, he averaged 16.7 points and 10.4 assists per game with three double doubles.
Kino Burrows finished with a near double double - nine points and nine rebounds in his regular season debut with St Thomas Basket Le Havre in France’s NM1 League.
However, those numbers were not enough to help his team protect the homecourt advantage and they lost 74-61 to Boulogne.
In his preseason debut, Burrows scored 19 in a 105 - 83 preseason win over Rueil AC.
Burrows followed with 10 in a 76-71 loss to Rouen MB.
Last season, Burrows completed his second stint with the FOS Provence-Basket Byers of the LNB Pro B League.
In 11 games, he averaged 6.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game en route to the Byers claiming the league championship and receiving a promotion to JEEP Elite Pro A for the second time in club history.
Willis Mackey Jr also relocated to a new club in the NM1 League, Mulhouse Basket Agglomeration.
He made his debut with 15 points and eight rebounds, both game highs, in a 77-47 win over Pole France.
Mackey spent last season with JSA Bordeaux Métropole Basket as the team struggled to a 7-19 record, 13th place in Group A.
In 16 games, the 6’8” forward averaged 13.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.
The NM1 League is the third-tier division of club basketball in the country.
The two top teams from each season of the competition are promoted to the LNB Pro B.
This is the French second division.
In the previous season, Mackey received league wide recognition for a standout season in Salamanca, Spain with Aquisima Carbajosa of the Liga Española de Baloncesto Aficionado, commonly known as Liga EBA.
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