Ravens face N/A Warriors; Pistons battle Maccabees in double-header
TONIGHT marks the opening of the highly anticipated GABF National Club Championships, featuring eight of the country’s top basketball clubs, who will face off at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall  not only to cash in on the tournament’s lucrative incentives but also to have their players spotted for national selection. The tournament will see Cellular Service provider Digicel and Ansa McAl under their Mackeson Stout brand as its major sponsors. A double-header starting from 19:00 h will bounce off the proceedings with Georgetown’s number one team Ravens facing New Amsterdam Warriors while the other game pits Wismar Pistons against Beepat Scorpions.
And speaking of anticipation, it’s not about wanting to see who will win, but what will be the standard of play in the tournament, given the lull in the sport for the past five months in the case of Georgetown and at least ten months for Linden.
Berbice, not known for having many competitions, recently held a Mashramani tournament, but that was all.
When James Naismith invented the game in 1891, he said “The invention of basketball was not an accident.  It was developed to meet a need” and 72 years after his passing, those words would be put to test from tonight since the players will be tasked to rekindle the love between the game the local fans.
The tournament is being played in a “win or go home” format and as such, nothing but the players’ A-game will be needed.
According to one team, they are prepared to start the game firing on all cylinders.
Ravens claim to have a point to prove and that point is simply to stay on top of the game to establish that they are not only the number one in the city, but also the best basketball-playing club in the country.
Thanks to the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) that forum was offered to them and the club without hesitation immediately started to strengthen their body to lift the trophy, with their acquisition of the ‘Dream’ Akeem Kanhai and Travis ‘Cook-up’ Foster.
Kanhai joined Ravens’ roster after his club, the Amelia’s Ward Jets, were overlooked by the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) for participation in the tournament. They (Jets) had filed a petition but nothing changed and as such, Kanhai wanting to play took the move to the city side.
Foster already donned the orange uniform last weekend after representing Beepat Scorpions and according to coach Darcel Harris, the move was just to show how serious his club’s intention is to be the best club in Guyana.
The 19-year-old Kanhai is always a crowd-pleaser and is always considered a major threat to any defence, given the fact that he can fill any position on the court and he will form a lethal alliance with Dwayne ‘Brown Sugar’ Roberts, Ryan Gullen, Rodwell Fortune, Foster, Rudy James, Ryan Stephney, Stephan Henry and Syria’h Clarke.
But the opposition, New Amsterdam Warriors, through their coach Kurt Fraser, says that they couldn’t care less about the big name and the success of their opponents, since they are coming tonight to play basketball and with that in mind, anything can happen.
Fraser says that he will rely on the experience of former national player Carlos Crandon and that of Randy Richards.
“We know Ravens are a good team but this is not going to be a walkover, we got some pretty good youngsters we are giving the opportunity to, so we are looking forward for this game and to at least do better than we have been doing,” said Fraser.
The second game between Pistons and Maccabees should be very interesting. Unconfirmed reports out of Linden are that National player Steve Neils Jr will be featuring for Pistons, along with some other Kings players. This newspaper was unable to get any information on the Maccabees unit.
The winner of the tournament will pocket $130 000, second-placed team  $85 000, third-placers $50 000 and fourth-placers $30 000.
The Most Valuable player will also be rewarded with $15 000 cash. The best defensive player and best coach are set to collect $10 000 each.