By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE second half of the 2023-24 New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA) regular season is now in full swing as teams round into form to close out the season strong.

NPBA president Ricardo Smith emphasized that his executive team members are excited about the second segment of this season and also want to utilise it as a learning experience going into the next one.

The NPBA executive team rolled out a 10-point plan which outlined their objectives to be implemented during their first year at the helm. The listing included bringing back the All-Star game with special incentives for players and supporters of the association. According to Smith, preparations are being made to host the All-Star event.

“We are looking forward to a rather exciting 2024 as we prepare ourselves for the playoffs and the second half of the season. We are getting ready for a spectacular All-Star and are now about three and-a-half weeks away. We are trying to confirm some major moves that we want to announce at a later time,” Smith said.

Recently, the NPBA reintroduced the triple header slate with three games played on the same night. The regular season games are currently played between the CI Gibson Gymnasium and the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium for marquee matchups. Despite moving to a makeshift venue due to ongoing repairs at the AF Adderley gymnasium, Smith wants to take it a step further to secure a bigger and better venue for the night league.

“I really want to move away from AF Adderley and CI Gibson Gymnasium. I really want to be looking at places like Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium and places like Atlantis and Baha Mar to take basketball to a higher level,” the NPBA president said.

The current executive team has served in office for less than a year since being elected in August last summer. They have achieved some of their goals within the first five months of the term but there is certainly room for growth going forward for continued improvement of the NPBA.

“The main thing is that this has been a trial and error and learning experience. I think over the summer we are gonna have a lot of time to prepare for the new season. We are gonna have the summer league this year which vice president Sterling Pratt and his team will be responsible for. We are gonna be working throughout the summer to ensure some of the strategies that we wanted to see in the first year come to fruition,” he said.

Smith added that there are plans to get corporate Bahamas more involved and they want to make those connections happen for next season.

He addressed the talent disparity within the league and said a greater focus will be placed on the product.

“We have a long way to go with regards to working on the product and making sure that teams that are not in the top tier are making sure that their guys are working out and putting a programme on the floor that people believe in. We want to work with some of the teams to assess the talent level and also with the coaching staff,” he said.

The NPBA season continues with the Zulu Media & Symphony versus the University of The Bahamas Mingoes at 8pm on Friday at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium. The Commonwealth Bank Giants take on the Caro Contractors Shockers in the following game at 9pm.