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June 28, 2009
 WBA
News Update
Index
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Upbeat JA
off to Caricom Basketball Championships
Team Jamaica departed the island
yesterday for the 20th staging of the Caribbean
Basketball Championship to be held in Tortola, British
Virgin Islands, from June 30 to July 4.
This will be the team's first test on the road in its
bid to qualify the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
 After a week of intensive training, head coach
Sam Vincent is pleased with the team's
preparations and is confident they will do well on the
road to get off to a positive start.
"I'm happy with the effort from the guys; they're
working extremely hard. They've been very focused and
they've done the things that we've asked them to do.
"They all realized that our objective is to get to the
2012 Olympics... and we all know that this is the first
step... so we know what's riding on it. But we've accept
it and I think that's why we're working so hard...,"
said Vincent.
"... I think we're now ready to go there and do what
we're supposed to and win the games and get ready again
to compete and work hard again next summer," he said
with reference to the Centro Basketball tournament for
which Jamaica will qualify in they win the Caricom
Championship.
Vincent said although the six-day training camp was a
short time to prepare the squad, they covered most of
the necessary areas. However, he said the team's main
focus was on defence.
"The one thing that we're trying to do is establish
ourselves as the tournament's strongest defensive team,"
he declared.
"We're confident that we have so many offensive
players, that the offence will take care of itself.
We've also worked on some plays to execute, but it's the
defensive area that we're really pushing on," he
said.
Initially there were some concerns regarding the
physical condition of the players as most were out of
competition for some time. However, Vincent put those
concerns to rest, stating that the team's fitness was up
to standard.
"Most of them have been doing something before they
got here and we've been doing some tough conditioning
while we've been here... We only backed off because we
don't want our legs to be tired when we get there,"
he explained.
The former Chicago Bulls player and Charlotte Bobcats
coach said the team is going in mentally focused to
execute, stay sharp and work hard without taking
anything for granted.
He said the players must also realize their strengths
and play to them.
"Our strength is... in the paint with Kimani
Friend and Samardo Samuels. So
once we stay focused and get the ball inside and make
them (the opponents) make defensive subs to stop us on
the inside or get in foul trouble, then we'll open up
every game and be successful," he said.
The recently appointed American was also happy with the
way the local-based players were blending with their
overseas-based teammates.
He said the overseas players were proud to come back and
represent their country and are determined to make a
good impression at the tournament.
"We're all very excited about the support we've got
from local sponsors and we're confident that in the
future when we have more time to prepare, this is going
to be a tough team to compete against," he said.
Jamaica will open their account against Trinidad &
Tobago today before facing The Bahamas Wednesday and
Barbados in their final group match a day later.
Vincent will be ably assisted by Julian Dunkley
and Paul Mokeski, while
Clifford Brown will manage the team.
A list of 17 players will comprise the contingent which
includes Chaz Carr, Kali
McCarthy, Mike Coburn,
Michael Rogers, Ricardo Alliman,
Damion Staple, Garfield Ricky
John, Adrian Forbes,
Shane Nicely, Oneil Mundle,
Kemar McLeish, Samardo Samuels,
Ortiseweyinmi Efejuku, Kimani
Ffriend, Christopher Walker,
Neveji Walters and Andre Smith.
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