Basketball tournament was 'an eye opener'

National youth team coach Steven Simons said the players got a reality check during the just concluded Bermuda Thanksgiving Basketball Classic.

With scores like 48 to 7, 50 to 26, 75 to 21 and 87 to 14, it was easy to see there was a wide gulf between the three Bermuda squads and their overseas competitors.

The Bermuda White Team had the island’s closest game as they lost to Georgetown 40 to 39.

Simons, who will be taking a team of players to Las Vegas over the Christmas holidays to compete in a tournament, said: “This was a very eye opening experience for the Bermuda players.

Incentive

“This gives them a gauge as to what level be aspiring to as a high school basketball player. It should give them some incentive to get into the gym and work out hard and focus on their game even more.”

Simons Red Team suffered a 50 to 26 loss to Georgetown.

“I thought we could have competed and won that game, but the other games we could see the level was a lot higher. The size difference was a major factor. They were more advanced and more athletic.

“We have a long way to go at that level if we’re going to compete.

“After the first game, they were a bit discouraged because they didn’t expect it to be that tough. But we did a good job in getting them refocused. Getting down early to those teams at a young age, our guys didn’t have the experience or the character to push on and fight back into a game at that level. It was so overwhelming for them.”

Simons said there were positives to take from the games and those can be used when Bermuda sends its national youth team to Vegas next month.

That squad will also have an advantage as instead of Bermuda’s best players being split among three squads, they will be concentrated on one team.