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Author Topic: Trinidad & Tobago can have a very strong Olympic Basketball Team  (Read 4114 times)

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Offline Controversial

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I noticed in the other thread some of the regulars on the bball thread brought up the topic of west indians, specifically trinis playing in the NCAA tournament.

I remember growing up in Toronto and playing with the older guys and they had several scholarship offers from all over the US, the majority was Division 1 schools. I'm talking about 99% of the players I grew up playing with were west indian, the vast majority being from TT and Jamaica.

It is no secret that the dynamic in Toronto and Montreal is different than in the US, the majority of minority players are West Indian, which is the opposite in the US because of the sheer numbers of african americans in US basketball.

The funny thing about this is, our national basketball team in TT can be an olympic team that is strong and can contend with the rest of the world, however, the current locals who run TT basketball are not scouting players from Canada and the US.

If they were scouting, I would have seen TT at the olympics since I entered or even before I entered high school, a very long time ago.

We have coaches throughout North America who are west indian and we are littered with talented TT players throughout north america and still we have failed to make a mark in olympic basketball. It's pitiful, you have all this talent that is eligible to play for TT and the local basketball organization are wasting our chances, just like our football.

For example, I had friends who were offered partial and full scholarships to D1 schools. Yet I have seen none of them ever been scouted to a national team, its a joke.

For example, every year Toronto produces ball talent that is either Trini, Jamaican or of west indian background and none of them are ever called to play national basketball. I am talking about every year, we have ballers go to D1 schools in the US because they are good enough to start or even make the NBA, yet none are recruited for the national team in TT.

If I was the head of ball back home, I would see who is the best ballers locally and then combine them with the best in north america. You have a guy like Kareem abdul jabar that has done clinics in TT but no one has ever asked him to be a coach or put together a team of coaches to build TT basketball.

Like I said, its ridiculous that we have so much talent produced every year in Canada and the US and none of them are called back to play for the TT national basketball team because they are a joke federation with no vision.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2012, 02:59:16 PM by Controversial »

Offline royal

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago can have a very strong Olympic Basketball Team
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2012, 07:53:17 PM »
good luck controversial with those comments.One thing yuh probable don't know, Trinidad basketball is the most tribal of all the sports in Trinidad.They are disguise as zones who are more powerful than the Federation.Now the question is are these foreign players and coaches apart of these tribes? If not they wouldn't represent T&T because tribes only see about themselves and their people the sport is just a vehicle to promote themselves and not the other way around. 

Offline Controversial

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago can have a very strong Olympic Basketball Team
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2012, 12:12:19 PM »
good luck controversial with those comments.One thing yuh probable don't know, Trinidad basketball is the most tribal of all the sports in Trinidad.They are disguise as zones who are more powerful than the Federation.Now the question is are these foreign players and coaches apart of these tribes? If not they wouldn't represent T&T because tribes only see about themselves and their people the sport is just a vehicle to promote themselves and not the other way around. 

the men i grew up playing with and the youths i have seen since i left high school ain't on the tribal tip, they would love to play for TT in the olympics and be under the guidance of men like kareem abdul jabar, i have had many conversations with players of tt background and they all would entertain the idea to play for the nation.

problem is, nobody ain't calling them because they ain't a part of the tribal nonsense, they are so far removed from that nonsense that takes place in TT, who has time for that petty, small minded way of thinking?

not the talented players in north america, they are focused on their D1 scholarships and getting ahead, not being kept back by red tape from some fool in TT that knows nothing about basketball operations.

its funny because i could assemble a squad right now and coaches to beat any local olympic team for TT, I have no doubts about that, but they probably will never play the team and never recruit the players for the national squad.

thats the sad thing because from what you have said, you would have to start your own league and all that garbage because the locals are once again destroying another sport in TT, imo ex pats should be in charge of all sports in TT, then you will see TT on top in world sports once more.

Offline royal

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago can have a very strong Olympic Basketball Team
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2012, 07:53:12 PM »
Trinidad and Tobago defeated Puerto Rico in 2010 ranked 10th in the World with 3 NBA players playing for them in the Caribbean tournament.But we had mainly a foreign team with a foreign coach.Since that time the NBFTT removed the then President of the association and we gone backwards cyar even come 4th in the Caribbean.

Offline Controversial

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Re: Trinidad & Tobago can have a very strong Olympic Basketball Team
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2012, 05:15:39 PM »
Trinidad and Tobago defeated Puerto Rico in 2010 ranked 10th in the World with 3 NBA players playing for them in the Caribbean tournament.But we had mainly a foreign team with a foreign coach.Since that time the NBFTT removed the then President of the association and we gone backwards cyar even come 4th in the Caribbean.

i remember reading that and that was imo a half strength team, it had better players who didn't play for tt, because once again they not getting the call, however, that was the right direction but now we gone backwards again, sometimes local sports need a dictator with a vision to be #1 in order for the right talent and management to come together, or else it just remains like what we are seeing now, backward thinking

 

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