Basketball Clippings: 2000s

Earlier this year Jump Ball presented some historical information about Dominica's basketball development in the form of 'news clips'. Article No. 106 (June 2022) covered the period 1963 to the end of the 1970s, and Article No. 108 (July 2022) presented on the 1980s and 1990s.

The column now changes baskets and focuses on the first decade of the 21st Century, i.e. the 2000s.

2000 * Dominica's National Basketball Team performs creditably at the 15th CARICOM Basketball Championships held in Barbados. The Nature Island Boys succeeded in defeating two of the more fancied teams for their first time. First, they beat Jamaica 72-61, and later Trinidad & Tobago 77-61. According to the team's manager, Edgar Robinson, "We literally sent the Jamaicans to the locker room crying..."

• Garth Joseph becomes the first Dominican-born basketballer to play in the NBA; he was drafted by the Toronto Raptors.

More recently, Rakeem Christmas, who was born in New Jersey, USA but whose both parents are from Wesley, Dominica, by birth, played in the NBA with Indiana Pacers in 2015.

• Basketball, as well as athletics, cricket, football, netball and volleyball move out of the Windsor Park after 28 years, in order to make way for the construction of the Windsor Park Sports Stadium.

• Six young Dominicans leave the State for the USA on basketball scholarships.

The six are Julius Avril and Cameron Robinson of Portsmouth, Fletcher Harry (Salisbury), Brian Zamore (Clifton Dupigny Community College), Otis George (Goodwill Secondary School) and Yaniq Ducreay (Dominica Grammar School).

• The two champion basketball teams in DABA's only two divisions in 2000, viz. Blazers (Premier Division) and Bullets (2nd Level Division) both hail from the community of Massacre.

• Coach of the Dominica National Basketball Team, Mickey Joseph resigns shortly after the team returned from the 2000 CARICOM Basketball Championships.

• In the Schools' Under-20 Basketball League organized by the Sports Division, Etzol Andrew of Dominica Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School raked up the highest individual score in the 2000 league - a hefty 62 points in a game, which may still be a standing record.

2001 * The Massacre basketball court becomes the main facility where games in the DABA national league are played. Several DABA games had already been played at Massacre in previous years.

• Dominican NBA player Garth Joseph is traded by the Toronto Raptors to the Denver Nuggets.

• The proportion of basketball teams from the out-districts participating in the DABA national league is relatively high; 18 of the 20 (90%) registered teams are from out-of-town.

• Ten teams participate in the 2001 edition of the Pointe Michel Basketball League which was won by L'Autre Bord of Pointe Michel.

• Knicks win their third Premier Division Playoff championship in DABA's competition, having previously raised silverware in 1998 and 1999.

• The Dominica Amateur Basketball Association announces plans to introduce random drug testing among players. The announcement was applauded by the Ministry of Education, Sports & Youth Affairs.

2002 * Brian Grant of NBA's Miami Heat donates US $6,000 from the Brian Grant Foundation to the Trafalgar Village Council for upgrading basketball facilities in Trafalgar.

• Knicks capture their 4th Premier Division basketball championship in five years with their second set of "back-to-back" honours (1998 &1999, then 2001 & 2002).

2003 * The Lindo Park Basketball Court at Goodwill becomes the main venue where national basketball league games are played; courts at Massacre, Marigot, Grand Bay and Portsmouth were also utilized occasionally for DABA league matches.

• Knicks performs a "three-peat", capturing their third successive DABA Premier Division Play-Off Championship (2001, 2002, 2003). That was their fifth title overall, having also brought home silverware as back-to-back champions in 1998 and 1999.

In photo: STANDING (L-R): Mickey Joseph (Coach), Michael 'Scrope' Moses, Carlisle Green, Kevin 'Price' John, Brian 'BJ' Joseph, Milton 'Sir Charles' Paul, Edgar 'Robo' Robinson (Manager), Johnny 'Legere' Alfred, Algernon Jervier. CROUCHING (L-R): Davidson 'Guinea' Toulon, Fidel Durand. STOOPING (L-R): Jason 'Boongie' Richards, William 'Jimbo' Graham, Fletcher LeBlanc

NOT IN PHOTO: Derek 'Didi' Alexander (Asst. Coach and camera-man)

Concludes next edition