JAMAICA’S SENIOR men’s basketball team will have to take on the 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers with major roster challenges.
The Jamaicans lost their final game of a pre-qualification tournament in Mexico, 90-61, to the hosts but still landed their place in the qualifiers with a second-place group finish.
However, the Caribbean team may be without inspirational leader Norman Powell for the qualifiers.
The Jamaicans played three games in total, first beating Barbados before downing Costa Rica, all while Powell, who was suffering from an illness since the team arrived for the tournament, led from the front.
Coach Rick Turner praised the effort and commitment of the Miami Heat shooting guard under the conditions.
“Powell was sick for three days. He went into the Costa Rica game very sick, but he knew the importance of the game and he made the scrifice to help us get the win. And as you saw, he scored 34 points on the night to help.
“\[Kenton\] Facey was also down with the same illness, but their commitment made the difference, as we won that game and qualified,” he stated.
However, Turner noted that Powell and other NBA players may not be available over the course of the NBA season, and that they will have to find suitable replacements during this period of unavailability.
“We obviously are not going to have access to NBA players during the NBA season. It is more than possible we won’t have him (Powell) for November and February.
“That is going to create other opportunities for other guys. We will find another who is non-naturalised, who is an excellent player that is able to play in that FIBA window.
“There are a lot of those players to choose from, who are very good. So we fully expect to find a group that is going to be fully competitive in the November window, February window, and the July window,” he said.
In the first game against Barbados, Jamaica won 101-70 with Romaine Thomas bagging 20 points and 10 rebounds. Romario Gill scored 19, pulled down 11 rebounds, while Facey had 15 points and Powell, 12.
In the second match, Powell posted an impressive 34 points as Jamaica defeated Costa Rica 80-76 in overtime. Facey supported with 10 rebounds, while Thomas and Justin Abson grabbed eight rebounds apiece.
With Powell and Seyi Reiley (knee) missing for the final game, the Jamaicans lost 90-61, in the final game despite Romario Gill’s 14 points and 13 rebounds. Thomas had 11 points, six rebounds, and Kenton Facey scored 10 points and had seven rebounds.
“Mexico have a very strong, disciplined team. They started very strong and created a gap. But we did well to get back into the game. We even cut the lead to five points at one point in the game.
“But they are a strong team and Mexico did what Mexico do, and in the end we could not get back,” Turner explained.
Despite losing the final game, Turner is satisfied that they accomplished what they set out to do, and that they were able to do it with a game to spare.
“The last game was without any pressure. We kind of played freely and not feel that pressure of having to win that game to advance. But winning those two games and being able to move on to the World Cup qualifiers was the reason we went.
“People I have talked to have asked me about everything we did wrong, all the ways we can improve, and what we could have done differently to beat Mexico.
“And I think people are losing sight of the fact that we have qualified out of this tournament. We did what we came to do, and so we are going to go now with a chance to make history for Jamaica basketball, starting in November, and we are going to do everything in our power to qualify out of that.”
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