Following the Bermuda Basketball Elite Draft that was attended by www.islandstats.com, Bermuda National Coach Roderick Spencer graded the draft.
Warriors (Sponsor: Robin Hood)
Two nick names for this team.. “By Committee” or “Delegation”
This is because they didn’t draft a named point guard or true five man and will take care of those rolls by committee. They did draft a team that deep with hybrid position players, those who play out of position well and/or can fill a few rolls. The trick will be finding a rotation that takes advantage of their depth without taking players out of rhythm. Lowe, Holland and Middleton are proven from the outside and Junior will get them extra shots with his offensive rebounding.
Grade: B
HURRICANES (Fort Knox Bermuda Ltd)
Coach Hendrickson rolled the dice a few times building this team. Protecting Jason Lowe a few short months off surgery to repair a torn meniscus, picking up Ronnie Bushner with their first pick will be key to their success. I look for this team to play a very European type of game, drive and kick.
Grade: B+
Pros
Great rebounding team who will be aggressive and scrappy, they have more than enough scoring, size and the often missed basketball IQ. Getting a player like Phil Davis so late in the draft was a steal.
This team also will need to pay special attention to their transition defense. They have a few players that can get caught up below the foul line together making the court longer to defend.
Grade: B+
Blue Birds (Sponsor: Young Men's Social Club)
RUN and GUN…
There is NO lack of guard play and speed on this team and I would expect them to score 70% or more of their points in transition and early offense shots.
Their strength is also their biggest weakness. While they can defend a select team on the outside they will struggle on the inside defensively.
Grade: B+
Team 5 - Storm (Sea Venture Overseas Shipping)
Unlike team 2 who built through the draft Simmons dealt away his first 2 picks for Vets. As the saying goes “If it isn’t broke don’t fix it” Simons has gone with a team of players he has played with in the past. They should be the most cohesive unit on day one.
If this team has a good turnout every night they will be a tough match up for most teams but they are not without their holes.
Their first two picks in the draft and getting Derek Hurdle with the 38th pick are very key pickups for their success.
Grade: A-
Lions (Trinity Sound)
I’m very interested to see how Coach Paul Wilson will merge these players into a team. There are some very interesting parts here and he will need to put the puzzle together.
They will need to focus on team play but might struggle with balance. They seem to have a glut of players that are more comfortable inside 15ft, slashing, posting, mid-range.
Space will be limited and lots of ball movement will be critical.
Grade: B-
“As National team Coach I would like say that there are allot of young players and not so young players that are in the ECL and who have the potential but have not yet broken into the National team ranks. Work on your game and get better every game. While your resting someone is working hard to get better,” said Spencer.
One of my quotes I use with the National team..
“Sometimes what your DO speaks so loud I can’t hear what you Say!”
And one lesson:
To have a good offense there are only 4 times you should dribble the ball….
1. To get the ball up the court (when a pass isn’t available)
2. To attack the rim
3. To get out of trouble
4. To make a better passing angle If your dribbling the ball and NOT doing one of these, YOU are hurting your team’s offense.
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