Bajan Basketball Predictions For the BABA's 2010 Pre-Season Tournament
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market hill ballers,
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station hill cavaliers
Having been the most dominant team in Bajan Basketball for the last 2 years, and in many persons mind even longer, Station Hill Cavaliers enter the 2010 season as the clear favourites to win the Premier League. The Cavaliers are also the BajanBasketball.com pick to win the President Invitational Preseason Lomar Alleyne Tournament. There chances to win are further galvanized by the decision of 3 Premier League teams not to participate in the tournament. Not that Bulls, Lakers or Sonics involvement in the tournament would have wrestled the illustrious title of tournament favourite from the Cavs but it would have probably made us think about it a little longer than we did.
One can fully expect the Cavs to use players from their Premier League and Intermediate teams for this tournament. But with the depth of both those teams it is highly unlikely that this will severely hinder their chances to win the tournament. They can even use players from their Ladies team and still be a competitive force within the tournament.
This is not to suggest that the Station Hill dynasty will not have any competition in the tournament. Surely they have to be mindful of the boys from the Pine who look the most likely contenders to the basketball throne. In fact every team in this tournament stands some chance of winning so here is our zone by zone breakdown complete with predictions for zone winners:
Zone A Station Hill Cavaliers, Patriots & Cougars.
Despite both Cougars and Patriots finishing towards the bottom of the Premier League standings last year it is still difficult to completely write them off. With the tournament format one win or loss could completely upset the whole apple cart and both Cougars and Patriots are more than capable of wins against the Cavs on their day. Both teams have considerable talent and Patriots will be even stronger with players from their Intermediate team, which made the playoffs.
Predicted Winner: Station Hill Cavaliers
Zone B DC United, Warriors & Mayhill.
Of these 3 teams Mayhill was the only one that made playoffs but that was Intermediate and they are coming up against 2 teams who were in the middle of the Premier League standings. Its hard to choose a favourite between these 2 based on last year but given that Warriors can also pull on the strength of their Intermediate and Third Division squad we are leaning slightly to the Dalkeith squad. Mayhill must still not be discounted. With playoff experience from last year and a team with both youth and experience this team could cause an upset.
Predicted Winner: Warriors
Zone C Jackson, Combined Schools & Challengers.
Again Challengers are the only playoff team here and again that was Intermediate.Having not seen what the School Boys have to offer this year Jackson are the favourites in this group. It is still hard to write off Combined Schools based on their high standards over the past few seasons and we fully expect their coaching staff to have their team fully prepared. We are also not ready to fully cross Challengers off as having the potential to win this group.
Predicted Winner: Jackson
Zone D Pinelands, Senators & Market Hill Ballers.
Like the Cavs, Pinelands are the overwhelming favourite in this group but Senators and Market Hill are 2 clubs with a tremendous amount of pride. It will be interesting to see if Senators call upon their experience from their Third division squad and it must not be forgotten that for most of the Intermediate season Market Hill looked like legitimate title contenders.
Predicted Winner: Pinelands
The tournament is setup perfectly for another Station Hill v Pinelands final but as the tournament progresses BajanBasketball.com will keep you informed. We would love to hear your feedback on how you feel the tournament will go. Do you agree with our predictions? Who do you feel will win the tournament? Do you think this tournament is a good idea? Email us and let us know.
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