HERE'S WHAT I BELIEVE WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW NIGHT

HERE’S WHAT I BELIEVE WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW NIGHT

Apr 23, 2010 Sports

Nicko Fraser

Marvin Hartman

The pundits’ prediction has so far gone according to script with Georgetown’s pre-contest favourites, North Ruimveldtand Albouystown/Charlestown reaching the Final Four of the Mackeson Super Ward Basketball Championship along with Linden’s best wards, Christianburg and Central Mackenzie.
North and Christianburg are both in Group ‘A’ with three wins while Central Mackenzie and Albouystown are in Group ‘B’ also with three wins.
The four teams will play in their respective group tomorrow night to decide who tops the group.
Here’s an analysis of what I believe will happen in those two mammoth games scheduled for the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in what has easily become the biggest basketball event of the New Millennium with the winner pocketing half million.
Both Central Mackenzie and Albouystown have dismissed any threats in their groups with a fair amount of ease, which has led to an abundance of confidence that was clear with the return of form for Mackenzie forward, Marvin Hartman.
What happens when two confident teams meet in a ‘big’ game that will place one of them against the second-ranked team from the other group in the Final Four? The one that plays the better basketball most often wins.
On paper, Central Mackenzie is shakier in the guard positions than Albouystown with Steve Neils being forced to shoulder most of the work. His support has been the still inexperienced junior National Guard, Orin Rose.
Rose has not had much minutes and rightly so. On the contrary, Albouystown has guest starred Kevin ‘Two Feet’ Joseph, Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai, Trevor McCleod and Rodwell Fortune in the guard positions.
Make absolutely no mistake about it, those four frontcourt men are as good as any in Guyana.
Expect Albouystown to trap Neils and what will happen then, there will not be any backup for him, which can slow the ball rotation, create steals and give Albouystown the offensive advantage in a matter of seconds.
Neils need help for Central Mackenzie to win against Albouystown. In the backcourt though, Mackenzie seems a more stable team than Albouystown, who has Dwayne ‘Sugar’ Roberts, Alwyn Bellamy and Nicko Fraser.

Steve Neils

Those are three top forwards for Albouystown against Jason Alonzo, the

Alwyn Bellamy

leading block shot contender in the tournament, Hartman, US-based Odley Alleyne (if available), Omally Sampson and some others. Both teams are fairly balanced on paper but because Albouystown has a deeper bench than Mackenzie, tomorrow night’s Group ‘B’ clash of the titans must go to Albouystown.
In Group ‘A’, North have had its fair share of scares in the group but has handled all of them as a matured team. They have therefore grown in the group and are expected to play a quality brand of basketball against Christianburg.
However, Damian Liverpool, Rudy James and Ryan Gullen must figure out a way of stopping the big Nkossi Gurrick, who has been dominant for Christianburg on the inside in all their preceding games.
North’s frontcourt seems to be in good hands with national point guard, Darcel Harris, Ryan Stephney, Marlon Rodrigues and others leading the Georgetown Inter-Ward Champions into tonight’s other big battle.
They should have the advantage over Christianburg there but North still has to turn up.
I will spare giving this one to North because of bias, but let’s see what happens tonight when the four best teams in the 2010 tournament play each other. The results should be the biggest games of the tournament so far.

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