Williams: Ja creating basketball 'dream team'
BY PAUL BURROWES
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA), Ajani Williams, believes the current group of national players has laid the foundation for a "dream team" and will stay on court for a shot of the 2012 London Olympics.
Willilams, a former NBA player, has given credit to Samardo Samuels and Kimani Ffried with Jerome Jordan either next year or the following year as "the best front courts Jamaica has ever had".
Jamaican basketballers and members of the country's delegation to the Caribbean Basketball Championships in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, celebrate at the closing ceremony after winning the tournament last week.
Jamaica rallied last week to capture the Caribbean Basketball Championships in Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI). Though Team Jamaica lost their opening match to Trinidad & Tobago 88-76, they won their remaining matches, beating Cuba 98-93 in the semi-final and hosts BVI, 65-61, in the final and will now play in next year's Centrobasket Tournament.
Williams noted that "Team Jamaica" has few new components which it has never had before. It has three dynamic coaches, two of which are NBA coaches, and the third is Jamaican Julian Dunkley who coached the team to victory in 2006.
"Team Jamaica also has something which it has never really had before, which is private corporate support with KFC and Flow as joint lead sponsors, and also the backing of minister Olivia Grange and the warm and protective support of the Association of Jamaican residents in the BVI which helped rally hundreds of Jamaican fans who live in Tortola."
While the basketball boss wants to avoid using the term "Dream Team Jamaica" at this time, he feels that "it is the beginning of something very special in our country's history in sports and specifically basketball and really believes this group can and should make it to 2012 London".
He pointed out that under new leadership "these were all able to pull together to create the perfect storm of opportunity in a time when our country needs a refresher from our sports industry".
Williams noted that while Jamaica have won the CBC Championships before, "this victory and gold has a different polish to it and different value". He sees this achievement "as an opportunity to build one of the biggest sporting brands the region has seen and feels the team's value will continue to rise exponentially both with victories and the notoriety of players like Samuels, Oritseweyi Efejuku and Jordan (who didn't play), and will continue to explode after they are drafted or signed to the NBA.
"Let's not fall asleep at this unfolding of something potentially very special and with wide implications for local basketball and sports in general. Congrats to Team Jamaica for becoming 2009 CBC champions and for qualifying for their next tournament on their road to 2012 and beyond," he declared.
BY PAUL BURROWES
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA), Ajani Williams, believes the current group of national players has laid the foundation for a "dream team" and will stay on court for a shot of the 2012 London Olympics.
Willilams, a former NBA player, has given credit to Samardo Samuels and Kimani Ffried with Jerome Jordan either next year or the following year as "the best front courts Jamaica has ever had".
Jamaican basketballers and members of the country's delegation to the Caribbean Basketball Championships in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, celebrate at the closing ceremony after winning the tournament last week.
Jamaica rallied last week to capture the Caribbean Basketball Championships in Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI). Though Team Jamaica lost their opening match to Trinidad & Tobago 88-76, they won their remaining matches, beating Cuba 98-93 in the semi-final and hosts BVI, 65-61, in the final and will now play in next year's Centrobasket Tournament.
Williams noted that "Team Jamaica" has few new components which it has never had before. It has three dynamic coaches, two of which are NBA coaches, and the third is Jamaican Julian Dunkley who coached the team to victory in 2006.
"Team Jamaica also has something which it has never really had before, which is private corporate support with KFC and Flow as joint lead sponsors, and also the backing of minister Olivia Grange and the warm and protective support of the Association of Jamaican residents in the BVI which helped rally hundreds of Jamaican fans who live in Tortola."
While the basketball boss wants to avoid using the term "Dream Team Jamaica" at this time, he feels that "it is the beginning of something very special in our country's history in sports and specifically basketball and really believes this group can and should make it to 2012 London".
He pointed out that under new leadership "these were all able to pull together to create the perfect storm of opportunity in a time when our country needs a refresher from our sports industry".
Williams noted that while Jamaica have won the CBC Championships before, "this victory and gold has a different polish to it and different value". He sees this achievement "as an opportunity to build one of the biggest sporting brands the region has seen and feels the team's value will continue to rise exponentially both with victories and the notoriety of players like Samuels, Oritseweyi Efejuku and Jordan (who didn't play), and will continue to explode after they are drafted or signed to the NBA.
"Let's not fall asleep at this unfolding of something potentially very special and with wide implications for local basketball and sports in general. Congrats to Team Jamaica for becoming 2009 CBC champions and for qualifying for their next tournament on their road to 2012 and beyond," he declared.
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