The mediocre form of the Sol Blazers has many within local basketball questioning their dynasty status.
Among them is technical director for basketball Victor ‘Voot’ O’Garro, who says the reigning two-time champions will struggle to be a playoff team without its overseas-based players.
“The league is essentially two rounds and teams are warming up,” O’Garro said. “We’re seeing teams improve and it’s building up to be an exciting league. Sol, on paper, have one of the top teams. But four of their best players – Shaad and Sammy O’Garro, Deandre Simpson, Davion Cotterell – are away at college in the United States. By the time they come back, Sol may be out of the top four. Remember, if you don’t play a game in the regular season, you can’t play in the playoffs. If those players don’t return in time, it can be tough for Blazers to compete.
“We’re seeing championship form from Sol once in a while, but without most of their foreign-based players, Blazers are struggling now. Without them, I believe they can’t repeat.”
Heading into round six of the 10-week competition, Sol sit fourth at 3-2. The Blazers are coming off a 69-54 win over the 1-4 Wendy’s Tarheels at Camana Bay’s Arts and Recreation Center. Two overseas players made their presence felt for Sol as Simpson had a team-high 14 points and 12 rebounds. Cotterell followed with 11 points and Kevin Maxwell added 10 points and seven rebounds. Andres Kirchman scored a game-high 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Tarheels and Omar Clarke contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.
Sol are next in action on March 23, playing last place 0-5 George Town Sports Club at 5:30 p.m. George Town are coming off an 83-58 thrashing by the 4-1 Caledonian Lions as Borislav Djordjic paced the winners with 35 points and 17 rebounds. John White chipped in 20 points and Vanrick Felix posted 10 points. Kristopher Brand rose up for 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace George Town, Andre Tyndall nabbed 10 points and Matt Bone scored 10 points.
Two other games are scheduled for March 23 as Tarheels face Dominos Warriors at 4 p.m. and Caledonian challenge Silver Bullets at 7 p.m. Dominos, 4-1, are coming off a 75-58 victory over 3-2 Silver Bullets. Collin Anglin led Warriors with 23 points and four 3-pointers, Antonio Thompson scored 20 points off four 3-pointers, Chris Lucas added 16 points and Christian Ferrer netted 15 points. Stephen Shaw led Bullets with 13 points, Curtis Wilson contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds and Alex Brzozowicz nabbed 11 points.
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