Caribbean Basketball Academy players celebrate after booking their spot in the semi-finals of the Jamaica Basketball Showcase on Friday.
Camperdown Giants, Purple Power Basketball, Hoops Factory Blues and the Caribbean Basketball Academy will contest the semi-finals of the 2023 Jamaica Basketball Showcase at UTECH on Saturday.
In an unfortunate turn of events for the defending champions, Phase 1 Academy, they entered day two thinking they had two wins in the bank but, after it was found that they used an ineligible player in both those games on Thursday, those results were overturned to wins for Purple Power Basketball and Hoop Factory Blues, respectively.
The day’s play began with the Caribbean Basketball Academy attempting to rebound from a pair of day one defeats.
Last year’s beaten finalists did just that with a comprehensive 56-41 victory over Hoop Factory Blues.
CBA enjoyed an 11-point lead at the half before an avalanche in the third quarter saw them stretch it to 24 to lead 50-26 heading into the final quarter.
Jahidi Campbell had 16 points and nine rebounds while Jaiden Brown had 15 points, nine assists and four steals for CBA. Joel Ricketts also provided support with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Nathan Ricketts led the Blues with 12 points and five assists.
The second game of the day saw Purple Power Basketball get their second win of the showcase with a 31-29 win over Blue Mahoe Basketball.
Jacqwaine Freeman led Purple Power with 18 points and five rebounds while Yahvarr Fearon had 12 points for Blue Mahoe.
Next up was a clash between Phase 1 Academy and the Camperdown Giants.
In an exciting contest, Phase 1 came out 48-45 winners for their first official victory.
Derjean Royal had 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals for Phase 1 while Micah Swaine led the Giants with a game-high 24 points.
After the break, Hoop Factory Blues bounced back from their loss earlier to book their spot in the semis with a 36-30 win over Purple Power Basketball for their third win.
Nathan Ricketts, once again, led the Blues with 13 points and a pair of steals while Jordan James had seven points and 10 rebounds. Tyreke Tummings had nine points for Purple Power.
Camperdown Giants were next to book a spot in the last four after rebounding from their defeat to Phase 1 Academy earlier in the day with a 51-45 overtime win over Blue Mahoe Basketball.
Micah Swaine led the way for the giants with 22 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Hubert Rodney had 14 points and nine rebounds for Blue Mahoe Basketball.
The day’s final game saw the Caribbean Basketball Academy pull out a hard-fought 43-41 win over Phase 1 Academy to book their spot in the semis. Both teams entered the contest knowing a win would see them advance to the last four.
CBA played an excellent first three quarters to go into the fourth and final period with a 36-28 lead before a ferocious Phase 1 fightback meant the teams were separated by just two points in the end.
Jaiden Brown had 21 points, five rebounds and three steals while Joel Ricketts had 13 points and 13 rebounds for CBA.
Romareo Mills had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the outgoing champions.
“We took the hardest route to get here,” said CBA coach Ludlow Barker after the game.
“Last night, we were really frank with each other. We had some heart to heart conversations and we came out today and did everything we needed to do,” he added
“One good thing about this tournament is you never know who is going to win,” Phase 1 Academy coach, Onecia Smellie, said after the game.
“Every single game, the boys came out and they played hard, win, lose or draw,” she added
The semis will see Camperdown Giants facing Purple Power while Hoops Factory Blues will oppose the Caribbean Basketball Academy before the two winners square off later on Saturday in the final.
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Spurs head coach Popovich out indefinitely
The San Antonio Spurs will be without head coach Gregg Popovich indefinitely after he reportedly suffered a health issue prior to the team’s last game.
The 75-year-old Popovich didn’t coach the Spurs (3-3) during Saturday’s 113-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves due to what the team said was an undisclosed illness.
Mike Johnson took over as head coach against Minnesota and will remain in the role while Popovich is sidelined.
“He's not feeling well,” Johnson said prior to Saturday’s game. “This has happened before.
“I think everybody's just always got to be ready for the next man up. We've had it with injuries and sometimes people get sick or don't feel well or things come up in life.
“He's just not feeling well.”
Popovich is the NBA's all-time leader with 1,391 victories and has won five NBA titles while coaching San Antonio since the 1996-97 season.
Bickerstaff: Pistons are 'getting better at everything' after big Nets win
J.B. Bickerstaff believes the Detroit Pistons are "getting better at everything" after bouncing back to beat the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
The Pistons suffered a heavy defeat to the New York Knicks on Friday but made it two wins from three with their 106-92 victory over the Nets after they lost their opening four games of the NBA season.
Detroit finished with six players on double figures, with Cade Cunningham leading the charge with 19 points. It was the second time this season they have had that many players score 13 points or more in a single game, after doing it just once last term.
And while their attack was impressive, they also held the Nets to just 15 points in the fourth quarter, showing a vast improvement to their defense.
Bickerstaff was impressed with how his team have grown already since the start of the season.
"The guys did a great job of bouncing back," Bickerstaff said. "The conversation around the group has been to be better than we were the other night.
"Every single night we step on the floor, we aim to improve. The guys, just from a grit standpoint, how hard they played and how they shared the ball, it was unbelievable.
"We're getting better at everything. I feel our guys have embraced the system. They're really competing on that end of the floor. Individually, everybody's taking the challenge.
"There are still small things systematically, we're going to continue to improve on things. I'm learning what guys are capable of, but guys' willingness to take the challenge has given us an opportunity to put ourselves in a position that now we have a foundation of that, and we can grow from there."
Malik Beasley, who was another to finish on double figures as he scored 18 points, including two critical 3-point shots, believes their more proactive approach to defending pushed them towards the win.
"We started the game physical," Beasley said. "Last game, New York came out and just got whatever they wanted to get to.
"We made a point today to be physical and if we get fouls called early, it is what it is. We need to be known for a grit team, the Bad Boys, that whole thing. We did that [on Sunday]."
The Pistons are in action again on Monday when they face the Los Angeles Lakers.
Fun returns for Doncic as Mavs ease past Magic
Luka Doncic hailed a "real fun" performance from the Dallas Mavericks after they bounced back from Thursday's loss to the Houston Rockets with a comfortable win over the Orlando Magic.
Coming off the back of their second defeat of the season, the Mavs downed a short-handed Magic side by a 108-85 scoreline to improve to 4-2 for 2024-25.
Doncic had 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while team-mate Daniel Gafford added a season-high 18 points and eight rebounds in just 20 minutes on court.
But it was a suffocating defensive performance that kept out an Orlando team deprived of injured star Paolo Banchero and won Dallas plaudits, and Doncic enjoyed his role.
"Today was real fun," he said. "We were guarding everybody, defending, rebounding, playing with a lot of pace. So that's fun for me."
Four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson, who arrived from the Golden State Warriors during the offseason, had a quiet night with just nine points for Dallas.
However, head coach Jason Kidd was pleased with his all-round contribution, saying: "I thought he played a great game.
"I know we look at him for scoring and shooting threes, but I thought his playmaking, his energy was high. He was moving on both ends at a very high level."
Dallas are next in action against the Indiana Pacers on Monday, while the 3-4 Magic visit the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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