Distributors Ansa McAl under their Mackeson Stout brand will next Friday launch the ‘Smooth Moves 3on3’ nationwide basketball tournament.
The tournament, which tips off on October 1, is expected to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year, bringing together scores of Guyana’s finest basketball players under one umbrella, competing for a once in a life time prize.
The month long tournament which has been blessed by the local governing body, Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation, will give the winners a chance to attend the 2012 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando, Florida, VIP style if the current NBA lockout ends and there is a season.
“We’re talking about limousine, courtside seats, nice hotels, spending money, and the full works,” said Troy Cadagon, Ansa McAl’s Marketing Executive.
“This will be the biggest basketball event in history and we want everyone from every corner of the country to be part of it because everything is absolutely free – this thing is simple, just walk with six Mackeson corks and your team list and you can play, that’s all,” Cadagon assured.
He added: “This is certainly something different we’re bringing, so on a weekend (Saturday and Sunday) we have games played all day, depending on the number of teams with a nice atmosphere, music and so on, while on Wednesday, we’ll be playing in the afternoons.”
In Georgetown, games will be played at the Burnham Basketball Court and Albouystown; Buxton on the East Coast, and the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court in Linden.
In Berbice, the New Amsterdam Basketball Court and Corriverton were identified for staging matches while matches are also set to be played in Bartica, Anna Regina and Essequibo.
With six Mackeson caps and a registration form, a team of four players will have a chance to cash in on the prizes and a chance to be crowned the first ever Real Smooth 3on3 Champions.
The forms, along with the drop off spots, will be published in the various newspapers and the deadline for registration will be September 28.
World body FIBA has regulated the 3on3 format of the game, taking it away from being just a street ball event, turning it into a world championship. The game has now picked up its own rules under FIBA and according to Cadogan, the ‘basic rules’ will be used to governing the tournament.
According to FIBA rules, the game has two halves of five minutes, no time outs with one minute break for half time. A team will field four players, with each shot inside of the arc (three point line) counting as one point and beyond two points.
While in the basic rule there’s no shot clock, the referee if for any reason can warn a team of stalling the ball and if he sounds a second warning it means that the ball will be rewarded to the defensive team.
To start the game, the two team captains will flip a coin and after every basket, the defensive team will have possession. A four foul limit per player rule will be in effect with substitutions being made when the ball is dead.
Unlike the usual game, one referee will be in charge along with one person being responsible for keeping time and scoring.
However, for the final of the event which will be played at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, the game will use the “full rules” by FIBA that will see the use of a 12-second shot clock and other minor changes as compared to the “basic rules”. Ansa McAl is of the view that the tournament will be well received and called on all persons playing the sport to be involved but each player must be 18 years and older.
For further information, persons are asked to call the Smooth Moves 3on3 hotline 220-0505 between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm.
