The Carolina Giants started their championship defense on the right foot on Saturday against the Quebradillas Pirates in the quarterfinals of the National Superior Basketball Championship (BSN), but did not have their young stars, Tremont Waters and George Conditt IV, on the court.

In their place were reinforcements Brandon Goodwin and Scottie James Jr. And after the National Team secured its historic ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics, many of the star players that fans are used to seeing will not be with their respective teams, at least until the middle of the semifinals if Puerto Rico does not advance from the group stage.

Although Carolina looked solid at the close of the regular season, manager Héctor Horta admitted that the losses of Waters and Conditt IV will undoubtedly affect their title defense because no import they hire will sweat the jersey of the “calentón” like they do.

“It affects us because you can’t replace a Tremont, replace a Conditt or replace Leo (Arill). They are people who feel and love the team. They love the city and what it represents for Puerto Rico. It’s very difficult for you to be able to replace those two guys. There’s no way,” said Horta in an interview with Primera Hora.

George Conditt IV celebrates a basket during the Olympic Playoffs at the Puerto Rico Coliseum. (Ramon “Tonito” Zayas)

However, the Giants are not the only ones who lost two of their players due to the Olympics. Like them, the Pirates will be without Gian Clavell and Isaiah Piñeiro. The Manatí Bears are in the same situation with Chris Ortiz and Jordan Howard.

The basketball gods don’t seem to be on the side of the Bears because their opponents in the first round, the Arecibo Capitanes, will play with the same group that dominated the regular season. Still, Capitanes manager Juan Cardona doesn’t think they’ll have an easier path to the championship because of the Olympians’ absences.

“Manatí is a team that we have a lot of respect for, but it is always about what we do and how focused we are on what we have to do. Yes, there are some teams that take some hits, but at the same time, they are bringing in some reinforcements, so it is up to each one to make the assignment,” Cardona told this media outlet.

“I don’t think the level of the tournament will drop because the managers have done a tremendous job in keeping option b and option c in their squad. Only those who are inside the league know how tough it is and the quality of the players here,” he added.

Alfonso Plummer of the Arecibo Captains attacks the basket against the defense of Emmy Andujar of the Santurce Cangrejeros. (Nahira Montcourt)

Others like Arecibo that did not lose any of their players due to the call-up by the Basketball Federation (FBPUR) are the Criollos de Caguas, who also demonstrated in the regular season to be one of the best teams in the league.

They think that moving the tournament would bring problems

As a result of this situation, the never-ending debate resurfaced: why doesn’t the BSN change the date of the tournament like other leagues to avoid situations like this? READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

Although many will think that this would be the best thing for the BSN, the manager of the Ponce Lions, Gerardo “Jerry” Misla, explained to this newspaper that moving the date of the campaign would be like shooting the league in the foot.

“Before, the question was where they were going to put the season even if they didn’t qualify. That changed a bit since FIBA ​​created the windows because now there are windows at all times. The windows are not just for the summer. For the Playoffs that had to be given to the players on June 17, and so that it doesn’t interfere with the BSN, they had to start the season on February 2 or 3 and that is suicide. Aside from the fact that winter baseball just ended and the sponsors in Puerto Rico are the same, you weren’t going to have the players that were in Europe, Asia, Australia and China,” said Misla.

“The number of players who would not have been able to be there would have been huge and the season would have been a failure,” he said.

Jordan Howard plays for the Manatí Bears in the BSN and last season in the Spanish ACB he played with the Monbus Obradoiro club. (Ramon “Tonito” Zayas)

He also said that halting the BSN season for the Olympics was not feasible because the break would have been almost three months and that, in addition to the financial losses, the tournament would end at the end of September at the height of the hurricane season. He also said that elite players from the island and imported players are beginning to be contacted by the teams they belong to abroad to report on September 1.

“Those players were not going to stay in Puerto Rico and they were going to leave,” he said.

Another option would be for the regular season to start at the end of the year, but this would make the BSN a direct competitor of the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, and both share sponsors.

For Horta, the best thing to do is to continue making adjustments like those made this season to allow players to continue playing abroad or prepare for an Olympic event.

BSN President Ricardo Dalmau said that the league will remain “at a high level” in the postseason, but admitted that having to look for reinforcements in the middle of the season represents a challenge for the teams. He also said that the National Team can continue to achieve successes without the league having to change the date of the tournament.

“We are running the tournament and the National Team is giving results. Puerto Rico has historically been a power in the region, playing where it has been playing, and basketball has changed too much since that type of discussion was taking place. Now, basketball is globalized… The important thing here is that FIBA ​​considered that discussion and regulated the way in which the professional leagues and federations were going to relate to each other to avoid clashes between them,” said Dalmau.

2024-07-14 12:00:00
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