Sonics convinced it can win National Basketball Championship

Feb 14, 2016 Sports

By Edison Jefford
Pepsi Sonics may be literally short on some aspects of the game, but confidence does not seem to be one of

Trevor Smith

them. The Mandela Avenue-based basketball team is oozing confidence ahead of Mega Mecca III: Guyana’s National Basketball Championships.
Sonics’ Coach, Mark Agard was not at a lost for words yesterday. He made it clear that Sonics is one of the teams to beat in the tournament. The former national junior and senior coach informed Kaieteur Sport that his team will be among the Final Four teams.
“Honestly, we are one of the top teams in Mecca; we will be among the last four teams. We have to pull this one off this time around; I think we have a very good chance of getting to the semis,” Agard said, adding that some of his key players are injured, but that will not be a hindrance since they have about three weeks to recover before Mecca III jump ball.
Agard informed that he is not the only team that is nursing players with injuries, but importantly, he will be ready for the national tournament. According to the notable coach, the shooting guard, Trevor Smith is currently recovering from an Achilles injury.
Smith is a main part of the Sonics offense along with national guard, Jason Squires. Agard stated that he will

Jason Squires

not be specifically relying on any one player, but is aiming to build a complete roster that will be able to compete for the National Championship title.
In that regard, he noted that it is likely that players such as forward, Rawle White could return to the team’s roster to add some experience. But holistically, Agard says he has the tools to win and that will be demonstrated during the Championships next month.
“I am not as up-tempo as some teams, but with my defensive press, I can compete with them. My team is small (short) so I have to play fast; I have some quicker guys coming up, so I know I will compete. Most of the times we lose in the fourth quarter,” Agard observed.
Because the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) suspended Jets for three months, it affected the initial Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) seeding of teams. Because of the new seeding, Sonics will face Republic Bank Nets in the first round.
The Sonics versus Nets first round game is an expected humdinger and one of the biggest games, if not the biggest, of the Mecca Round-of-16 (first round). Agard welcomed the challenge, stating that “the last four times, we beat Nets. I would be glad to meet them in the first round to issue that first round exit”.
Notwithstanding their seemingly rough road to Mecca, Sonics is confident they will overcome all challenges to emerge among the top four clubs in Guyana at least, and ultimately go on to win the top prize and right to be labelled National Champions.