3 weeks ago
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WITH JUST a month left until their first match of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers, Jamaica’s men’s basketball head coach Rick Turner expects a much-changed squad from the one that competed at the pre-qualifiers.
Speaking with The Gleaner on Friday, Turner explained almost half the squad will change ahead of the World Cup Qualifiers due to player unavailability.
“I’m not quite ready to announce what the roster is, but I would say that it’s going to be probably be half of the roster from the pre-qualifiers,” Turner said.
He explained although FIBA has designated several windows in which the qualifiers are to be played, several of Jamaica’s players will be heavily involved with their various clubs and colleges.
He said players like Miami Heat’s Norman Powell, Justin Abson of the University of Georgia and Giovanni Fraser of the University of East London are among those unlikely to feature in the first two games.
“When you look at a guy like Norman Powell, for example, they just started their NBA season with Miami, so he’s not available,” Turner explained.
“There are other players like Justin Abson playing with the University of Georgia, and Giovanni Fraser is playing with the University of East London.
“They’re right in the middle of their seasons, and those teams don’t have the FIBA windows that allow them to get away to play for their national teams.”
Turner, however, explained some of the changes are in areas he believes will bolster the team’s chances of success.
This will be the first time Jamaica will compete in the qualifiers and are looking for a berth at the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
“There are some other guys where we think we can make some improvements to the roster,” he explained.
“So, I would say, just painting with a broad brush, probably half the players would be different from the pre-qualifiers squad.”
Jamaica will compete in Pool B of the qualifiers and are joined by Canada, Puerto Rico, and The Bahamas.
Turner admitted while they are in a strong group, they are ready to face off against some of the best teams the region has to offer.
“It’s one of those, be careful what you wish for, things, because we ended up in, I think, quite easily the most difficult pool in the qualifying round,” he said. “All three of those teams are great, great basketball teams.
“We have our work cut out for us, but this is exactly what we signed up for. We want to compete with the best.”
He continued, “We think that we have a group of players that can compete at an elite level, and we want to show the world what we can do.”
The qualifiers will take place during the designated FIBA windows, with the first assignment set for next month with back-to-back games against Puerto Rico.
The qualifiers will be played in a round-robin format with Jamaica facing each team twice, once at home and once away.
However, due to the unavailability of the National Arena, Jamaica will play away to Puerto Rico twice.
The top three teams from the pool will advance to the second round, where they will be placed in two groups of six.
The top three teams from the second-round group will qualify for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
English (US) ·