THEY call him the ‘Darth Vader’ of Guyana’s basketball while some even refer to him as ‘Bane’ – all fictional characters – but their roles in Star Wars and Batman movies were villains that some people ironically love to hate, when the truth is Dwayne Roberts is just someone who always wants to win. 

He plays fearlessly, he is obstinate at both ends of the floor and sometimes his dogged style of play lands him in trouble with the custodians of the game.
“For me, I always want to win, I play hard and always hope that my teammates do the same,” Roberts said in an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport.
Roberts, whose alias is ‘Brown Sugar’, is probably one of the most popular local players and though the national team is yet to be named, pundits and even those with little or no knowledge of the game locally know fully well that the powerful forward will be selected.
Though being one of the most dominant players in Guyana, Roberts only featured once internationally when Guyana attended the 2011 Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) tournament in the Bahamas.
“I wish we had really tried to get the local players exposed more often, even if its blending it with the overseas-based players because it will certainly make us better and give us something to look forward to,” Roberts said, speaking on the fact that apart from the CBC tournament, Guyana’s senior men’s national team is relatively dormant.
In his CBC debut, Roberts totalled 43 points from five games (Jamaica 11, USVI 8, Antigua 12, Bermuda 4 and St Vincent 8), averaging 8.6 points per game and shooting 40.5% from the floor, finishing with 4.4 RPG average.
This time around, the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) solicited the services of its best available overseas players – something Roberts believe should have happened a long time ago.
“I think this time we’re going to have a far better team. It’s not that we had a bad team in 2001, but we didn’t play much basketball in Guyana that time. We went against guys who either play for a living or do so on a continuous basis, at a high level,” Roberts noted.
Former Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers shooting guard Rawle Marshall who now plays in Europe, answered the call for help when the GABF reached out and has formed part of what many are calling one of the best National team Guyana has produced in a long time.
“Marshall is a big plus for us, but I played at that level and I know it will take a complete team effort to take us all the way. We have some very good overseas players and blended them with the best of us here in Guyana, I’m sure we can go and win this tournament,” the Retrieve Raiders power forward said.
“We have a far more athletic team than 2011; we have way more talented players who can score because that was a problem for us the last time. But I’m looking forward to playing with Marshall and trying to lead this team to victory,” Roberts said.
The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) employee said that he has faith in the Mark Agard-led coaching staff, to select the best team to represent Guyana, stating “all the guys have been working hard. Everyone is showing that he is capable of making the team, but it’s now up to the coach to say who he is willing to carry to win that tournament.”
Like many, Roberts said that he’s been anxiously awaiting the CBC tournament this time around since his game has improved and his confidence is sky high.
“The last time we didn’t know what to expect other than it’s going to be hard. People wrote us off from day one because they said a local team can’t compete. We did though. It was hard but at least now we have a more compact team with better players, I must say, and even the guys from the last time have all improved.”
The tournament will feature eight teams and Guyana are aiming to finish with at least a qualification to the Centrobasket where they can compete for spots in the FIBA Americas Championship, from which they can qualify for the FIBA World Championship or Olympics.
Guyana are placed with defending champions US Virgin Islands, tournament hosts BVI, and Barbados in Group B of the Men’s championship which begins on July 1 and concludes on July 5.

(By Rawle Toney)