The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

HE was elevated from being an assistant coach to the head coach of the Bahamas Basketball Federation men’s national basketball team for the first round of the first window of the FIBA World Cup 2023 Qualifiers.

But after losing their first two games to Canada on neutral grounds in Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic, Moses Johnson said he’s confident that the team will be in a better position going into the second round.

“The first time experience was awesome. It was a rewarding one to represent the country as the new head coach after being on the sidelines with the team in the past,” Johnson said.

“Standing out front was nothing new, no jitters. I was just eager to get to work and to see what the team would produce. So it was something that I was looking forward to. It was a humbling experience as well, seeing the level of competition that we faced and we were right up there with them.”

The team, led by the trio of Travis Munnings, Mychel Thompson and Domnick Bridgewater, fell to Canada 115-73 in the opener and 113-77 in game two of the back-to-back meetings.

The other members of the team were Michael Carey Jr, Shakwon Lewis, JR Cadot, Kemsy Sylvestre, Willis Mackey Jr, Rashad Davis, David Nesbitt, Mark St Fort and Kentwan Smith.

Moses, who was assisted by Eleuthera’s former NBA player Dexter Cambridge, admitted that whenever they step on the court, the Bahamas has to produce its best team in order to stand a chance against their rivals. “Our guys were able to stand with them, but we got a little fatigued at the end when they made their runs,” Johnson said. “We were able to stand tall with one of Americas’ elite, so it was a rewarding experience for me.

“They knew that the Bahamas is not a pushover, having taken the United States to the limit, taking Puerto Rico to the limit and berating Mexico, teams know that they can’t just bring any team, but they have to bring a team that will be very competitive when they play against the Bahamas,” Johnson said.

“So we have to match the quality of the teams that we play against. The Americas are now bringing their best, so we have to match up by trying to get our best to compete.”

When he talks about the best, Johnson said they will need players like the Coleby brothers, DeShon Taylor, Tavario Miller and Danrad Knowles, who were unavailable for one reason or the other.

“We hope to have some of these guys available when we play the February window, which is going to be very critical for us,” Johnson said.

“That will separate the teams and so we will need to win at least one, if not all two of the games we play against the US Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic.”

Playing out of Group C, the Bahamas is currently winless at 0-2 with the USVI, while Canada and the Dominican Republic are 2-0.

The Bahamas will take on the USVI in their most pivotal game on February 24, 2022 before they go on to face the Dominican Republic on February 27, 2022.

That will set the stage for the third and final window when the Bahamas will have its second matchup against the USVI on July 1, 2022, and its final match against the Dominican Republic on July 4, 2022.

The Bahamas will have to emerge as one of the top three teams from their group to qualify for the second round of the tournament where the 12 teams that qualify will be divided into two groups of six.

The three best teams from each group, and the fourth-placed team, will qualify to the FIBA World Cup 2023 that will take place August 25 to September 10 in multiple countries for the first time.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 will qualify teams directly for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or through 4 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

Against Canada, Johnson said they were only able to assemble the team in time in two practices before their first game because of players coming from different parts of the world.

“It’s going to be virtually important as we prepare for the next window that we spend at least 5-6 days with the entire team so that we can put in the plays necessary to ensure that we are successful.”

Once they can get through to the second round, Johnson said they expect to have the services of Golden State Warriors’ assistant coach Chris DeMarco, who is the head coach for the team.

Additionally, he said they anticipate that NBA players Chavano “Buddy” Hield, Deandre Ayton and Kai Jones, along with some of the veteran players in the European League, will be available to represent the country.

The goal, he said, is to qualify for the World Cup for the first time and then take a shot at earning the rights to compete in the Olympics.

With the players available, Johnson said they can do it. They just have to assemble them on the team at the same time.