By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

MIAMI, Florida — The Bahamas senior men’s national basketball team is back on the path toward FIBA World Cup 2023 qualification and that journey began in earnest this week with an offsite training camp.

Headlined by Indiana Pacers guard Buddy Hield, the camp’s purpose is to give the roster added days of preparation and bonding experiences headed into a July 1 matchup against the US Virgin Islands at the USVI Sport and Fitness Center.

The team will continue the week long camp at the Miami Lakes Athletics Club until June 30 before they head to USVI.

Hield said a different approach has the programme seeking improved results.

“Guys come from different systems, it takes time to gel. For the past few years, we had 2-3 days of practice. Now we have 6-7 days of practice more time to be together instead of going out and just playing basketball,” he said. “It makes more sense, it keeps the team together, helps us build camaraderie, helps us to figure out how we can play together and be as prepared as we can for this window.”

Returning to the team travelling to the USVI will be veterans David Nesbitt, Mychel Thompson, Kentwan Smith Travis Munnings, and Shaquillo Fritz along with collegiate players Franco Miller J and Joshua Dames.

“Guys are playing hard, trying to get everything situated. It’s a fresh group coming together, the coaching staff does a good job keeping everyone grounded and keeping everything simple with our offensive and defensive sets,” Hield said. “It’s a physical group, guys know how to play the right way. We’re working hard on defence, trying to figure out how to play together and we’ll see what happens in USVI.”

The Bahamas will host the second matchup of the window at home at the Baha Mar resort against the Dominican Republic at 7pm on July 4.

Golden State Warriors assistant coach Chris Demarco is in his third year at the helm of the Bahamian national team.

“We’re pretty excited, it’s nice to have a consistent group now. We’ve had some of these guys for about four years now, same personalities, have an understanding of our style of play and there’s a lot of leadership here so. We’ve had a few guys that have played before for the national team that were in the area and have come out to practice to help us out so there have been some great turnouts,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve had a camp outside of where we were going to play. It’s a good chance for these guys to hang out, have some meals together, get to know each other better, and build chemistry. Obviously, it gives us a better chance to prepare and preparation is key for these things where you don’t know who’s going to play for you, you don’t know who you’re playing against so it’s important that we just get this time together to take care of us and then we worry about the opponent.”

Ole Miss women’s basketball head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin will serve as an assistant coach and became the first woman to join the coaching staff of a Bahamas senior men’s national basketball team.

“Great communication, great defensive intensity right now and I feel like guys are starting to lock in as we get closer to participation,” she said. “Obviously I understand what it’s like to be a head coach so I am trying to be a great assistant for coach Demarco. Just being a steady voice, making sure that whatever it is that he wants to run I am reiterating that, the guys have been receptive and I just want to fill in the gaps where needed.

Team Bahamas was drawn into Group C alongside Canada, The Dominican Republic and The US Virgin Islands.

Canada leads the group at 4-0, The Dominican Republic is 3-1, The Bahamas is 1-3 and the Virgin Islands are 0-4.

In November’s first window, The Bahamas suffered a 115-73 loss to Canada in the first game of a back-to-back in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Canada took a decisive 113-77 win in the second game. Team Bahamas split the pair of games in the second window in February. They won 86-76 over the USVI and lost 90-65 to The Dominican Republic at the Palacio de los Deportes in the Dominican Republic. The win over the USVI was the second win for The Bahamas in the history of World Cup qualification, following a 2019 win over the Dominican Republic.

Sixteen teams will compete in the Americas region, vying for seven spots.

The top three teams from each group will qualify for the second round of qualifiers.

In the second round, the 12 teams that qualified will be divided into two groups of six.

Subsequently, the three best teams from each group, and the fourth-placed team, will qualify for the World Cup.

The FIBA World Cup 2023 is scheduled for August 25 to September 10 in multiple countries for the first time - Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.

A total of 80 countries are left vying to be among the 32 teams at the 2023 World Cup.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 will qualify teams directly for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or through four FIBA Olympic qualifying tournaments.

Photos: 10th Year Seniors