Bartica and Berbice to see action today
THE basketball courts in New Amsterdam and Bartica are both set to come alive today when the Mackeson Smooth Moves 3-on-3 tournament continues. At the start of the tournament, it was said the objective was to not only put basketball at centre stage, but to also integrate the sport into communities where it has either lost connection with the fans or bring new talent to the fore.
So now, 3-on-3 basketball is more than just a ‘pick-up’ game being heavily marketed by the world governing body FIBA.
Berbice is known in the basketball community as the place that always has amazing talent but it is being kept underground since there is no tournament played among the teams on a regular basis that would give the players a chance at being exposed.
On the other hand, very little or nothing is known of the  sport being played on a competitive level in Bartica but given the great response shown by players in the community known for mining, a high level of competition is expected.
Tonight, five teams will kick off the Berbice leg and so far the tournament has  shown that there’s no big team in the tournament but certainly pre-tournament favourites.
Team ‘Full Clip’ with Randy Richards, Flint Hinds, Theophiles Bess and Sheldon Thomas, along with ‘Team Demolition’ that has the likes of Kirk Fraser, Carlos Crandon, Dellon Grant and Leroy Edwards are the two teams favoured to come out on top tonight.
However Sharks (Rayel Franklin, Linden Joseph, Desi Douglas and Karam McLean), Sharks Ice (Keenan Williams, Leyland Edwards, Jason Kerr and Saydrian Fortune) and Rockefellers (Michael Fullerton, Jamal Felix, Trevor Loo and Marvin Chester) are the other teams they will be pitted against, whose ulterior motive is just the same, to win the $1M first prize.
Meanwhile, when the tournament continued on Friday evening in Linden at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court, Team Titan and Assassins were the two teams to advance to the next round or the tournament and rounded off the top six teams from that zone.