MEET MICHAEL "SCROPE" MOSES

Part I presented several aspects of Moses' basketball career. The article concludes below.

MVP MOSES: Michael received numerous MVP awards, including several from the Castle Bruce League, the Eastern Rural Basketball Invitational Tournament, a French Islands Tournament in Guadeloupe, and a league and Off-Season in France.

REPRESENTING SISSEROU LAND: Moses represented Dominica on the National Basketball Team for 7-9 years, wearing national colours in regional and two sub-regional tournaments, namely, the CARICOM Championships and the OECS and Windward Islands Tournaments.

Michael debuted on the team in 1994, the same year he moved up to the senior division. He first wore Dominica's colours for the 9th edition of the OECS Basketball Championships, which was staged here that year. Dominica captured the championship for the first and only time; unfortunately, due to injury, he could not play.

He was also a member of Team Dominica for the Windward Islands Basketball Tournaments in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999, and for the 1996 and 2000 CARICOM Men's Basketball Championships held in Trinidad and Barbados, respectively. Interestingly, although Dominica was nowhere close to winning that latter championship, the team succeeded in securing "bragging-rights" victories over two of the tournament's more fancied teams, beating Jamaica by 11 points (72-61) and Trinidad & Tobago by 16 Points (77-61). Of course, Scrope contributed to those sweet victories and the team's overall performance in that tournament.

LOOKING UP TO COLLEAGUES: Moses looked up to several players on the local scene for different reasons. Topping that list is Jason "Bounji" Richards, who, before he (Scrope) entered DABA's senior division, impressed Moses with his versatility, power and being "unstoppable". That list also includes William "Jimbo" Graham, who he described as "one of Dominica's best point guards ever"; David "Mad Rat" Thomas; powerhouse Milton Paul (deceased); and Johnny Alfred, who he described as being "an unstoppable force, and a pure, all-round player who could play in all five positions on the court."

NBA TEAMS THAT IMPRESSED SCROPE: The NBA teams that have impressed Moses thus far are New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors.

PLAYING OVERSEAS: After bowing out of Dominica basketball in 2002, Scrope migrated and, over 15 years, played in the French Caribbean as well as in Europe as follows:

Amical Club Darboussier (Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, 2002-2004); Metz City (France, 2004-2005); Royals (Germany, 2005-2006); Bergheim Bandits (Germany, 2006-2007); SVB Lynx (France, 2007); St. Marguerite (France, 2008–2013); and *SVB Lynx (France, 2013-2017).

INVOLVEMENT IN OTHER SPORTS: Moses disclosed that he once played cricket, and in 1995, he was even called for selection to the National Cricket Team as a pace bowler. He further disclosed, however, that he pulled out from the squad as he was already on the National Basketball Team and wanted to direct his energies towards basketball.

SCROPE'S HOBBIES: Scrope loves cooking, especially for friends, and that has been from his childhood days when coming back home after spending hours in the river fishing with locally-made fish guns; he would prepare some tasty cook-ups for his friends. And, with a big smile across his lightly bearded face, he admits, "Those were the best days of my life."

Michael also enjoys pools, meeting people and learning a bit about their culture, traveling, and making good connections.

SCOPE'S THOUGHTS ABOUT BASKETBALL: Scrope was asked about his thoughts about basketball. Here is what he had to say:

"Well, I had always hoped that given the level of basketball talent that we produce among the Caribbean Islands, we would have come up with a Caribbean Basketball Championship. And I am not talking about the CARICOM tournament, which only takes place every 2 or 4 years, I believe. But I am talking about a professional league, like you see around the world, in Europe, the Americas, in Asia etc. It is unfortunate that someone or a collective body or enterprise in the private or public sector has not taken this initiative to a higher level, which would give our youngsters another escape route of excellence to thrive within the game that we love so much.

"I believe that we have missed out on a very serious business alternative to working in partnership and another opportunity to bring our Caribbean community even closer than we are today; I hope that it is not too late to investigate that moving forward and how we can make this happen once and for all. We have much to offer as a people in the Caribbean, and it should be explored to the fullest."

REMARKS: Moses spent a solid 30 years (1987-2017) in basketball. Jump Ball wishes him all the best in his endeavours. Thanks, Michael, for your invaluable input.