Asks Rawle Toney
The Beepat Scorpions Basketball Club hosted its annual All-Star Weekend which saw Guyana and senior ballers competing in the Three-Point and Slam Dunk contest and also the All-Star games, held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall November 7-8.
It was the 7th staging of the event which had brought thousands to Guyana’s premier sports facility but the poor attendance over the weekend left many basketball aficionados and even myself asking if the All-Star Weekend had lost its mojo or the poor attendance was a reflection of the current state of the sport which recently has seen a decline in spectatorship.
Sports enthusiasts at least up to last year would ensure that even if they couldn’t go to any other event at the Sports Hall, they would be at the All-Star weekend which was designed by the Scorpions Club not only as a fundraiser but also a showcase for the country’s top basketball players.
The fact is that nothing is happening in the sport administratively, and this is impacting on how people relate to the game.
For the year, the associations in two of the main areas of the game, Linden and Georgetown, have basically done nothing. As a matter of fact, they haven’t even run a tournament which they have organized and are yet to show that they mean well for the game.
In Georgetown, the biggest thing to happen for basketball so far in 2009 was the Hits and Jams/Courts Pacesetters Inter-Ward tournament which saw the Sports Hall being crammed generally every night and this was simply because the parties involved made efforts to attract big name corporate sponsorship and they also efficiently executed the tournament.
Even if you didn’t like basketball or is not a big fan of the game, the television and radio advertisements were played so often that it seemed that all the action in the city was centred on the event.
There were times when the All-Star weekend was even better since it was not often persons would get a chance to see how creative and skillful Guyana’s basketball players are as it relates to the Slam Dunk and Three-Point shoot out.
The decrease in showmanship especially in the Slam Dunk contest started in 2007 as the previous events which saw dunkers such as Andrew Iffil, Jermain Ward, Kester Gomes, T&T’s Steven ‘Lighter’ Lewis, and Kerwin Blades, just to name a few, brought out fans since their showdown was expected to be quite invigorating. I too participated in the event but with little success.
But afterwards the event became mediocre since persons would just come out because they can leap as compared to the guys mentioned earlier who were very, very creative and had flair and finesse.
Last year, Tyron Hamid, a player attached to Dynas Ravens Basketball Club came on the scene and brought a new light into the dunk contest since he’s very athletic and creative and he won both the juniors and seniors competition.
Loving to dunk, Hamid has spent the entire year working to improve his leaping ability and creativeness and it was disheartening to see that on Saturday last, he was the lone competitor in the senior competition. Again I must say this is a bad reflection of the game although the dunk contest is a novelty event.
What – no competitors?
How come in this day and age in Guyana in a senior contest we can’t find competitors? And I know for sure that it has nothing to do with prize money because everyone knows that the dunkers are paid handsomely.
A shame! And that’s because basketball is not being played on a regular basis in any of the areas and the associations and the Guyana Basketball Federation (GABF) are to be blamed.
The three point contest, both junior and senior, was well subscribed and was entertaining and probably, besides the junior all-star game, the most entertaining event for the weekend.
All-Star games
Over the past three years, the Junior All-star game has been by far the crowd pleaser since the youngsters from Linden and Georgetown would come out and play their hearts out as compared to the lack-luster performances from the seniors. Linden, led by star junior and national youth captain Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai and sharp shooters Orin ‘Six-head’ Rose and Chris Williams lifted their second title in a game that had fans on their feet from start to end. The trio literally took Georgetown apart to win 92-86 with Kanhai being judged MVP for his all-round performance and would have scored the Play of the Weekend when he turned down a solid one hand dunk in traffic of Georgetown Marlon Anderson which roused the crowd in jubilation.
The senior contest has for the past three years been a one-sided affair with Georgetown winning 72-62 with Naylon Loncke for his game high 19 points adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP).
But though the city team exacted revenge for their two previous losses the game was far from exciting and gave a true reflection of the standard of the game, with the competitiveness declining just like the fan base. But it starts with the basketball federation since the sub-associations could only be as strong as the leading body. Since the passing of former president Godwin McPherson they are yet to re-elect a head or to say when this would happen.
This year, South Carolina Lady-All-Stars team visited Guyana and though they blew away our local females, there were a lot of positive developments coming out of the tour. The local ladies, who are inactive all year round as compared to the semi-professional players who have made basketball their lives, were still competitive.
As usual, the GABF has promised to ensure that the local ladies stay together, yet they continue to underachieve in administering basketball in general.
