Jamaica target Puerto Rico sweep

National senior men’s basketball coach, Rick Turner, said winning consecutive games against Puerto Rico in Puerto Rico would be an amazing feat as Jamaica prepare to face the hosts for the second time in three days in the FIBA America World Cup qualifiers this evening. Today’s match tips off at 7:10 p.m.

Jamaica lost home court advantage because their venue was not approved by the competition’s organisers, and the team is forced to play both games away to Puerto Rico.

After the buzzer-beater win on Friday, Turner said their opponents will be a lot more aware of the strengths they possess, and that it will require an even greater effort to secure the double over them.

“That (to win again) would be amazing. It would really be a great start to our qualifying tournament. But we know what the Puerto Rico team is and they are full of pride, and we won’t be sneaking up on them in this game. They are going to be ready to go, and we have got to turn it up another notch,” he said.

On Friday, Christopher Ortiz (17 points, 7 rebounds) and Gian Clavell (14 point) were major threats from behind the three-point line, and Turner expects the pair to remain a threat from outside, but said they need to do a better job in closing them done earlier.

“Our plan was to restrict them. But it was tough to do. They are really, really good. They run their sets in a way that allows them to get open looks. I was disappointed in how we started the game defending the threes. The first nine three-point attempts were uncontested, and we were talking about it all week. So it is not like we were not aware of it.

“But we recommended at half-time to stick to that game plan, and in the second half they only had two three-pointers. But they are really tough to defend,” he said.

However, Turner believes they have an advantage in their physicality and said players like Kofi Cockburn and Romario Gil can be their trump cards on the night.

“I think it (physicality) is something that we need to take advantage of. But I didn’t think we had the tools in place to do that (Friday). But we will try to do some different things to get the ball inside and take advantage with our big men.

“We do not have a lot of advantages when you play a team that is one of the best in the world. But one of them is having guys like Cockburn and Gil, who can operate inside and dominate, given the opportunity.”

Jamaica are in Group B with Canada, Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Jamaica and Canada share the lead at the top after one win each with two points. Puerto Rico and Bahamas have a point each.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com