Rose and James upbeat about Guyana’s chances

Apr 07, 2021 Sports

Delroy James

Stanton Rose Jr.

Kaieteur News – Stanton Rose Jr., the captain of Guyana senior men’s basketball team, along with co-captain Delroy James, are both confident that the selected 12-man squad can continue to create history for Guyana when they touch down in El Salvador for their first ever appearance at the CONCECABA pre-qualifiers for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 2023 World Cup.
Rose, during an interview with Kaieteur Sport, shared his thoughts on the composition of the team that departs Guyana on April 12, “I feel good about the team, we have the pieces we want but I think maybe we needed another pure shooter but that’s what the coach gave to us and I am confident in his decision making and the ability of our players to get the job done because we have a little bit of everything in the squad.”
Despite being surrounded with a few players of with more experience, Rose is unfettered by the expected pressure and he shared that, “It will be a bit challenging but as long as we can communicate with each other we will be fine.”
Delroy James, back in Guyana since 1993 when he was seven years-old, gleefully divulged to Kaieteur Sport that, “It’s surreal to be back here especially after travelling all over the world, I’m happy to return to my roots and to play for my country. To help them (Guyana) take their game to higher heights is a very precious moment for me.”
“We have a very good team and I think that we just have to take it one game at a time and we will be able to compete and make the next stage of the world cup qualifiers.”
Although Stanton is many years his junior, James has 100% faith in the young man, “He should be the captain, he has been in the system for years and he is the future of Guyana basketball. I still think I can learn from him about the playing style of the Guyana team and don’t know everything but I will try to help him as much as I can by sharing my experience.”
Despite much criticism about the final 12 players, James, who has much success in European ball noted that, “I’m happy about the squad makeup, it is a bit crazy that it got cut down to 12. I wish it was 14 because we missed out on two very good players but it just shows how crazy our squad depth goes when two good players get left behind.
Initially, Guyana was set against the hosts, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica but a late application by Jamaica has now seen the number of teams in the first round of qualifiers moving to five. The teams will be contest one-off round-robin games with three out of the five teams moving on to the next round of qualification.
Guyana will tip off the competition when they clash with Nicaragua on April 15 from 21:00hrs then they will play Jamaica the next day at 18:00hrs followed by El Salvador on the 17th at 21:00hrs before their last game against Costa Rica on the 18th at 18:00hrs.
The partners making the team’s participation possible include JHI Associates, Ministry of Culture, Youth & Sport, E-Networks, Nigel Hinds, Hand-in-Hand, Atlantic Mining Supplies, American Airlines, Rima Guest House and Sleepin International.