The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the unavailability of some of the players to travel, head coach Moses Johnson said he’s still pleased with the make-up of the men’s national basketball team that will represent the Bahamas in the next two games in the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifiers.

The team is currently in Venezuela ahead of their match-up on Thursday. They will then travel to Panama to play on Sunday. The team is currently sitting in fifth place in Group E with a 3-7 win-loss record.

In putting the team together at the last minute for the Bahamas Basketball Federation, headed by Eugene Horton, Johnson said he’s still confident that the Bahamas will perform very well in these two games this weekend, despite the fact that the Bahamas won’t qualify for the World Cup.

“We’re here and I always stay my guns and say that the team we have here is the team that should be here,” Moses said. “So we’re going to prepare these guys for Thursday and I’m sure we will give a great effort.”

After going through their first day of practice yesterday, Johnson said he and his assistant coaches James ‘Jimmy’ Clarke and John Marc Nutt were impressed with the level of cohesiveness displayed by all of the players on the team.

“They seem to be getting along really well. The coaching staff is pleased with what we have seen so far,” he stated. “With the addition of the next guys who should arrive in the morning (today), we will grow even better tomorrow and then we will hone in and really prepare for what we have to do for Venezuela on Thursday.”

The team will consist of the following players: Kadeem Coleby, Domnick Bridgewater, Godfrey Rolle III, Ahmad Pratt, Robert Northmann, Kentwan Smith, Livingstone Munnings Jr, Roosevelt Whylly, Quemah Gibson, Bradley Nairn and Jean Rony Cadot.

Johnson said his only message to the players is to stay resolute, stay connected, stay together and remain focused.

“Don’t mind the noise in the market,” he said.

“This place is going to be rocking.

“We are going to have people screaming, we are going to have people being negative, but we have to stick together.

“All we told them is to stick together as a team, stay resolute, let’s worry about what we can control and don’t worry about the rest.”

The team is going in as a “spoiler” as they try to claim a top 10 ranking in the Americas, something that has never been accomplished before in the past.

“We don’t have the ability to qualify, but Venezuela is on the cusp of qualifying. They are tied with the Dominican Republic and Argentina, so we can come in here in a hostile home environment and send them home packing. “So this is very important for us against teams like Venezuela and Panama, who are like tiers in the Americas, so this is very important for us to put out a best effort, go out here and try to win both of these games and help ourselves in the world rankings.”