SEEMS THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION (NBA) isn’t the only one losing games these days.
Local basketball’s operations committee will have at least one less contest to schedule this season after the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) decided to bounce off this season with an awards gala instead of the annual opening game.
BABA president Derrick Garrett said the decision was originally made due to the initial unavailability of the Wildey Gym court before his executive chose to forgo another humdrum exhibition.
“The interest in the opening game has really dwindled over recent years and the attendance has reflected that because it has been extremely poor,” said the second-year head.
“We just thought we’d do something different this year to get more appeal for the upcoming season.”
For the better part of two decades, the Lomar Alleyne game – an exhibition contest between the defending Premier League champs and the senior knockout kings – proved the highlight of basketball’s season opener.
However, the game lost much of its lustre as competing teams failed to treat it as a competitive contest by sitting out several of their key players while refusing to care about the final score.
The exhibition had reached such a low point that it was replaced in the last two seasons by a pre-season tournament final and a Kirk Patrick Memorial game in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
But they too failed to draw significant crowds, leading the BABA to believe the season opener would be better served with an awards dinner.
The gala is scheduled for February 11 at the Wildey Gymnasium conference room and will be reserved for specially invited guests, club representatives and the awardees.
It serves as an unusually early start to the basketball season, which customarily opens in the second week of March. This year’s annual general meeting is slated for January 25 at the Barbados Olympic Association’s Wildey headquarters. (JM)
