Three Linden teams in National Basketball C/ships Super 8

Feb 25, 2015 Sports

By Edison Jefford
Three Linden-based teams are among the eight teams that will compete in the quarterfinals of the 2015

Rodwell Fortune

National Basketball Championship, the second edition of the Road to Mecca II Friday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, beginning at 6:30pm.
Those teams are Victory Valley Royals, Retrieve Raiders and Kings. Royals have the toughest of the challenges when they play defending champions, Ravens. Raiders will play Kings. The teams will vie for a place in the Final Four set for Saturday.
Royals will have to play extremely good all-round basketball to overcome Ravens, who have at its disposal a wealth of talent to unleash. The biggest challenge for Royals will be in their backcourt among guards, Marlon Pollydore and Chris Williams.
Pollydore and Williams will have to play out of their minds. Pollydore will be the consistent ball handler while Williams is a lethal shooting guard. Williams needs to fire on all cylinders in what could be one of the biggest match-ups of the tournament.
Comparatively, Ravens have the experience of Ryan Stephney, Rodwell ‘Kobe’ Fortune, Stephon ‘Penny’ Henry, Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai, Marlon Rodrigues and Dominic Vincente, who are all guards. That is as formidable a backcourt that can exist in Guyana.
Royals are clearly outclassed in that position. As a matter of fact, all the teams in Guyana start at a disadvantage against Ravens in the backcourt. Where Royals can make the real difference is in the paint with a group of tough

Ryan Stephney

forwards on its roster.
Forwards Harold Adams, Ron Beckles and Lawrence DaCosta had a big night for Royals against Nets, who they beat to qualify for the Super Eight. Nets had beaten both Ravens and Pacesetters last year in the Phillip George Legacy tournament in Georgetown.
Royals’ big win against Nets must motivate them against Ravens. Adams, Beckles and DaCosta have to continue their defensive work on the glass, which led to easy offense. Ravens will throw Jermaine Slater and Ryan Gullen, who are both national players, at them.
What is certain is that Ravens will bring its usual up-tempo and fast-paced offense versus Royals Friday night. The Victory Valley-based team is expected to respond with its gritty, tough defense akin to street-ball, which brings into focus a clash of opposing philosophies.
Raiders would not survive the meltdown like the one that nearly cost them their first round game against Kings. Forward, Neil Marks, who was in good shooting form last week in the first round, needs to get other support if last year’s finalist, Raiders will set themselves on course to reach yet another national final.
The winner of the Royals versus Ravens game will play the winner of the Trinity Grid Holdings (TGH) Pacesetters against Plaisance Guardians game. The winner of the Kings and Raiders clash plays the winner of the Colts United versus Pepsi Sonics game.