Following a hiatus due to the 2023 festive season, the inaugural edition of the ‘One Guyana’ Basketball Premier League will resume on Saturday, January 13th, at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue, with the highly anticipated playoff segment.
In the opening match at 19:00hrs in the Harpy Eagles Conference, the #2 seed Kwakwani Untouchables will oppose the #3 seed South Ruimveldt Mambas. In the feature contest at 21:00hrs, the #1 seed Pacesetters will lock horns with the #4 outfit Ravens.
Over in the Jaguar Conference on January 20th at the same venue, the #2 seed Bounty Colts will match skills with the #3-positioned Kobras at 19:00hrs, while the #1 seed Eagles will face off against the #4-placed UG Trojans at 21:00hrs.
Meanwhile, President of the Georgetown Basketball Association, Jermaine Slater, stated in an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday that the tournament has achieved its intended objective of developing and elevating the overall play of the participating teams and players.
According to Slater, “What the tournament has shown is that the teams have the potential to do far better once they have multiple games to play. Some of the teams that have reached the playoffs are essentially new teams, so it shows that once these teams have games under their belt, their players will improve. The goal of the event was to improve play amongst the teams and players, and that goal has already been met because we had multiple games.”
He further said, “In total, we had 43 games in the regular season. Most of the teams that never did well after their third game became a force to be reckoned with. Teams like the Mambas and UG Trojans are to be acknowledged for having excelled in the tournament. This tournament has proven that having multiple games allows the players to be more locked in and do far better than a one-way match.”
Asked about his expectations for the playoff section, Slater declared, “Given the regular season play, it is expected to be far more competitive, and the reason being that teams have never played in a best-of-three series and never competed in a playoff series, so more players are eager to make their mark, and the fact that teams are meeting opponents once again from the regular season play elevates that rivalry, and they have to put their best foot forward.”
The tournament, which is a collaboration between the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport (MCY&S) and G-Boats Incorporated, forms part of the National Sports Academy. The regular season featured 14 teams divided into two zones, which are the Harpy Eagles and Jaguars Conferences, respectively.
A minimum of 56 fixtures and a maximum of 63 matches are projected for the competition, which concludes in March 2024. The winner of the tournament, which will be played every Saturday at the National Gymnasium, will pocket $1,000,000, while the loser will receive $500,000.
