Hooper to focus more on defence ahead of Nations Cup tournament

…as GBF concluded national men’s try-outs on Sunday

As Guyana prepares to compete in the highly-anticipated “Nations Cup” tournament, set to take place from January 24 to January 27 in Paramaribo, Suriname, the Guyana Basketball Federation (GBF) concluded the men’s national try-outs on Sunday, January 12, which Head Coach Adrian Hooper conducted.
The trials at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) included standout performers from the ongoing One Guyana Premier Basketball League: Travis Belgrave (Eagles); Harold Adams (Royals); Dominic Vincente (Ravens); Zian Gray (Eagles); Nikkoloi Smith (Ravens); Yannick Tappin (Royals); Shelroy Thomas (Colts); Jushawn Bayley; Oquacey Shortt (Colts); Shane Webster (Colts); Orlan Glasgow (Royals); Jermaine Slater (Kobras), Kimol Grimmond (Untouchables), Domair Gladstone (Untouchables), Stanton Rose (Untouchables); Shamaar Huntley (Ravens); Denzil Ross (Eagles); Jamaal Gilkes (Untouchables); Brando Bento (Mambas); Emmanuel Atherly (Kobras); Nathan Saul (Pacesetters); Jaleel Duke (Pacesetters) and Elijah David (Kobras).
Head Coach Hooper, speaking exclusively to Guyana Times Sport, divulged that the mixture of youth and experienced players would have a positive impact on the team coming out victorious.

“Alright, basically we would have shortlisted a team of 20 players. The guys came out in numbers to put their best foot forward. Today being Sunday, we had trials on Saturday also. It was just for two days, so now we’re going to go back to the drawing board,” he said.
“We want to shortlist the team to at least 15 players. And from there, we’re going to break it down to the final 12 that we’ll be travelling [with]. So, it’s just a matter of just selecting the right 15 to move forward.
“Well, it’s a new group I’m working with. I’m the second in coaching the national team. It’s a good experience, but I’m almost certain that we’ll try to get the best players who will represent Guyana in this tournament.
“Whether it be youths or whether it be the older generation. But a combination of both should do good for us in this tri-nation series in Suriname. And we look forward to coming victorious.”
When quizzed on areas needed for improvement to reap success, Hooper disclosed that he would be trying to focus more defensively, restricting teams from scoring and he also noted that the ongoing One Guyana Tournament has a positive Impact as he was able to select the best players from the tournament.
Hooper said, “Well, I will be trying my best to focus on mostly defence for the team. Because most of the competition that we face when we leave the shores, there’s a lot of bigger and taller competition out there. So, we’ve got to focus more on defence to at least limit the other teams’ scoring and transition baskets and stuff like that.”
“So, it’s more of a defensive team and to be balanced out at the same time to take this round.”
“Well, the tournament playing right now is a plus for us, because we’re able to pull players directly from this tournament that are excelling right now. So, we actually pulled the best of the best from the tournament at present to try out for this team, this national team.”
In a press release on Friday, GBF President Michael Singh, indicated the Nations Cup marks the beginning of what promises to be a busy and exciting year for Guyana’s National basketball team and that the tournament serves as a key step in the team’s preparation to defend their title at the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championship. (Omar Mckenzie)