The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

COACH Chris DeMarco liked the way the men’s national basketball team came together and played their first game in the FICA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament.

In their opening game on Monday night in La Banda, Argentina, Team Bahamas blasted Cuba 109-68 behind the big trio of National Basketball Association players Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield from the Indianba Pacers and DeAndre Ayton and Eric Gordon, who will be teaming up for the first time with the Phoenix Suns this season.

DeMarco, an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, said after playing just two scrimmages against Kansas without all of their players, they came out to find their identity against Cuba.

“We came together and worked on our stuff that we’ve been practicing over the last few days, so I kind of felt that things went very well,” said DeMarco, who is assisted by Moses Johnson and Mikhail McLean.

“Overall, we are trying to build our chemistry because a lot of these teams have been together for a while and so we’re just trying to speed up that process. We had about 9-10 days together, the longest we’ve had in a while, so our goal every window is trying to build chemistry and I feel we’re getting there.”

Despite getting off to a slow 20-16 start at the end of the first quarter against Cuba, DeMarco said he liked how the players were able to rally around and used a 14-0 start behind the dynamic trio to turn things around in the second quarter.

Hield led their balanced attack with 24 points on 10-20 from the field (4-7 from downtown), six rebounds and five assists. Ayton added 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Gordon, in his Bahamas debut, had 17 points and 4 dimes.

All 3 exited the game midway through the 4th quarter with the team up by 33 points. Franco Miller (9 of his 18 points in the 4th quarter) and Kentwan Smith (10 points) led Bahamas’ bench unit that outscored Cuba’s 39-24.

Shooting guard Karel Guzmán (16 points) and centre Pedro Bombino (14 and 5 rebounds) were Cuban’s only players scoring in double digits.

DeMarco said after the team found their footing, they were on cruise control. But he admitted that every player on the team is in Argentina for one goal and that is to win.

“We have Argentina, who is the fourth ranked team in the world on Wednesday and they play a beautiful brand of basketball,” DeMarco said. “But we have to be ready. Our guys are focused.

“Canada didn’t show up, so they haven’t played a game yet in this window. They did have some scrimmages in Europe, so they have been playing, but it will be a feeling out process for both teams. We just have to be ready to play like we did against Cuba.”

Those are the only two games the Bahamas will play out of their pool with Canada not participating. The outcome of today’s game will determine their fate in the playoffs that will take place on Saturday when they crossover against the top two teams out of the Group that features Uruguay, Chile, Virgin Islands and Colombia.

The winner from the tournament on Sunday will qualify for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2024 that will determine who gets to play in the Olympics in July.

This is the best chance for the Bahamas to advance to the Olympics and DeMarco said the players are all convinced that they can get the job done.

“Bahamas Basketball has a bright future. We’re trying to build this thing the right way. We’re on our way,” DeMarco said. “We have a great coaching staff, a great training squad and we feel we have some really good players, so we are heading in the right direction. “We like our chances with every game we play in each window. We’re here to win and we are going to do our best to ensure that this team puts its best foot forward in accomplishing that goal.”

DeMarco expressed his gratitude to the Bahamian public for the tremendous outpouring of support.

He said it’s a grind for everybody to come together and play in this type of competition so the support is definitely what is needed.

“We’re excited. We’re excited about the team that we have and we hope that we can get better every day,” he stated. “The obstacles that we faced in pulling this off to get this team in such a short time. But we’re here to get the job done.”

The other members of the team are Domnick Bridgewater, Rashad Davis, Travis Munnings, Lourawls Nairn, Jaraun Burrows, Garvin Clarke and Davis Nesbitt.