JaBA courts NBA players

[1of1]

he opted first time , but no bueno from them

[Sickko]

Detroit's first round pick last year plus we could get Ben Gordon as well, but I doubt he would come in for the Americas event but certainly for the WC if we make it.

Gordon was born in England but both parents are Jamaicans and he turned down England last year at the Olympics

[Stonigut]

Nice, all we need is some decent point guard play to really make this thing work. Ben Gordon would go a long way to developing some consistency on this team.

[OJ]

drummond just got selected to a provisional us team.

[World Fan]

U wuz right....explaination


http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...-JaBA_14601781
Recruiting quality overseas talent a headache for JaBA

BY HOWARD WALKER Observer Senior Reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, July 01, 2013

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JAMAICA Basketball Association (JaBA) faces serious challenges in recruiting players of Jamaican heritage in a bid to strengthen the JamRockerZ squad for the upcoming Americas Tournament in August.

JaBA's effort could hit a snag as FIBA — basketball's world governing body — only allows one naturalised player per team.

[Hide Description] Assistant coach of Jamaica’s senior basketball team, JamRockerZ, Richard Pollack (left), makes a point during the Jamaica Observer Sports Club at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue head office on Thursday. Also pictured (from 2nd left) are JaBA’s Programmes director Melissa Farquharson, President Ajani Williams and Marketing Director Paulton Gordon. (PHOTO: GARFIELD ROBINSON)
[Restore Description]
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But a strong JaBA delegation is expected to present a special appeal to the world governing body with the aim of having it look at Jamaica's case.

"Right now we are in a recruiting phase which is very challenging, because our hands are tied by FIBA rules which restricts us naturalising multiple Jamaican players by way of parentage," Assistant Coach Richard Pollack told the Jamaica Observer Sports Club last Thursday.

"We want to see if we can hurdle that challenge that we are facing right now," he added.

With Jamaica having lost top centre Roy Hibbert of Indian Pacers fame, frantic efforts are being made to bring in quality players that would take Jamaica to the next level.

With that in mind, Pollack and company have identified several players that they feel would be great additions to the present roster.

Big seven-foot centre Ryan Hollins of the Los Angeles Clippers is tipped to replace Hibbert and has committed himself to Jamaica.

JaBA will also be holding talks with Ben Gordon of the Bobcats, André Drummond of the Detroit Pistons, and Tony Douglas from Sacramento Kings.

Manchester-born power forward Adrian Uter, who plays in Israel and Daniel Rose from Ocho Rios, who is now playing in Canada, are also target players. At Cedarville University, Rose, the all-time leader in blocked shots with 204 rejections, is also being recruited. Shooting guard Elijah Carter from the University of Florida is also on the radar.

"The FIBA Americas tournament is the biggest basketball tournament in the Americas, and the Americas is responsible for the last few gold medals in every world event, so we have to recruit some of the best prospects we can get our hands on," Pollack reiterated.

"It is very challenging in getting in naturalised Jamaican players of Jamaican heritage. So that's what we are facing right now, but I think that we're having a good chance of getting around it.

"We have identified some other countries, like Nigeria, who have used foreign players at the last Olympics, so we have built some cases that we are going to present to the FIBA general council," said Pollack.

But according to Pollack, securing some of the players, especially those from the NBA, might just be the start of the problem.

"With that being said, that doesn't solve the problem because we will have to deal with the players and their agents, which of itself is a major challenge. The agents pretty much control the players in a lot of ways," he noted.

Jamaica will of course be depending on a lot of the old guards in Patrick Ewing Jnr, Akeem Scott, former New York Knicks player Jerome Jordon, and Samardo Samuels, formerly of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Meanwhile, JaBA President Ajani Williams tried to clarify why top centre Roy Hibbert will not be playing for Jamaica.

"Why is Roy Hibbert not back here? Well, Roy Hibbert is worth US$80 million. You can't ask me to have a US$100,000 team with a US$80 million man, it just won't work," said Williams.

According to Williams, these players come with insurance fees, something which his organisation cannot afford.

"We have to use these kind of players now until we can build an elite programme where they are Jamaican born and comes through our youth system. For the most part, we will have to look at some who are born of Jamaican parents," he explained.

"Once you are talking about NBA players, we will have to get NBA coaches because these agents won't send their players to any and any coach. So to get NBA coaches, we have to pay NBA salaries, get an NBA team doctor, NBA trainer. So what I am saying is that you have to create an NBA organisation. If we can't get these players, we can't play against Brazil, Argentina and Canada, because their players are already in the NBA," noted Williams.

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