Wednesday, May 31, 2017

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#BALLIN’ By Da Beach Basketball Camp returns to the courts this summer with several new initiatives in place for the 2017 edition. This year’s weeklong event is all set to be hosted June 26-30 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

#The programme was created by Jurelle Nairn in 2010 when she saw a need to place a greater focus on the development of women’s basketball at the youth level.

#Previously a camp exclusively for girls, this year’s event will also be open to boys as well, facilitating players ages 5-18, with packages ranging from $50 to $125. The two camps will be held at the same time but will remain separate.

#SJ Lennon, game operations coordinator for the Toronto Raptors and founder of BallUp Academy, alongside Tim Lewis of Montreat College, Assistant Coach (Ashville, North Carolina) and Crossover Athletics, will conduct the boys’ segment of the camp.

#Familiar camp conductor, Charisse Mapp, will again host the girls’ segment for the eighth time. She is currently the head coach at Charlotte Latin High School (Charlotte, North Carolina) and Founder of Queen City Athletics.

#Mapp, a former player for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was coaching at Salisbury University where she first met Nairn, who served as her assistant coach. When Nairn decided to start theBallin’ By Da Beach Camp, the first person she turned to for assistance was Mapp.

#The 2016 camp was cancelled because of issues with the facilities but Mapp still made the trip to the Bahamas and assisted with summer programmes hosted by Sherelle Cash and Pattie Johnson.

#Camp organisers are expecting both local and international attendees.

#A press release issued by the organisation said: “Our mission is to take a personal interest in every basketball player and coach to help them become game changers on and off the court. Our vision is to build a movement of passionate basketball players by delivering excellence through the game. Our vision inspires us in our daily work. We create a diverse, collaborative, encouraging environment where teamwork and openness are the cornerstones.”

#Since 2010, the camp has featured hundreds of underserved, aspiring student athletes.

#In addition to serving as an assistant at Salisbury University, Nairn has coached the Queen’s College Comets and was an assistant on the women’s national basketball team. “This movement was birthed from my passion to serve and inspire change in the Bahamas through basketball. Since I started playing basketball, God has just graced me with His favour over and over again,” she said during previous editions of the camp. “I can truly say that I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for basketball,” she said. “It has opened doors that would have never been opened had I not played for the right people, in the right place, at the right time.”

#Interested persons can register at www.BBDBCamps.com., with further information via Twitter – @BBDBCamps, Facebook – www.facebook.com/bbdbcamps or E-mail – hello@bbdbcamps.com 

Friday, March 22, 2019

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#BALLIN’ By Da Beach Basketball Camp looks to make another progressive initiative in local girls’ basketball.

#The camp will host a series of “Run ‘n’ Shoot” events to give local student athletes an opportunity to play organised pick-up basketball.

#The series will be hosted on March 30, April 6, April 13 and April 20 at the Anatol Rodgers Gymnasium with an entry fee of $10 – $15 with shuttle pickup.

#Open for 9th graders to recent graduates, the girls’ segment will run from 10am to 3pm while the boys will follow from 3pm to 8pm.

#Shuttle service locations include South – Dairy Queen at the Southwest Shopping Plaza (Girls: pickup at 8am/drop off at 3:30pm, Boys: pickup at 1pm/drop off at 8:30pm); East: Wendy’s Mall at Marathon (Girls: pickup at 8:30am/drop off at 4pm, Boys: pickup at 1:30pm/drop off at 9pm); West: Sir Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium (Girls: pickup at 9am/drop off at 4:30pm, Boys: pickup at 2pm/drop off at 9:30pm).

#Event organisers said the series is designed to benefit student athletes in a number of ways, giving them an opportunity to compete in a relaxed atmosphere, help conditioning in the offseason, physical and mental player development, and exposure through filming and streaming that will be made available to their network of college coaches for all divisions.

#The series will be offered to adult women 6am to 10am March 30 and April 13 and adult men April 6 and April 20.

#For more information, contact 804-0621, 429-7170 or email: bbdbcamps@gmail.com

#Ballin By Da Beach was created by Jurelle Nairn in 2010 when she saw a need to place a greater focus on the development of women’s basketball at the youth level.

#Since 2010, the camp has featured hundreds of underserved, aspiring student athletes.

#In addition to the camp, the organisation also hosts a Recruitment Exposure Showcase to aid aspiring players in their college recruitment process.

#A press release issued by the organisation said: “Our mission is to take a personal interest in every basketball player and coach to help them become game changers on and off the court. Our vision is to build a movement of passionate basketball players by delivering excellence through the game. Our vision inspires us in our daily work. We create a diverse, collaborative, encouraging environment where teamwork and openness are the cornerstones.”

Thursday, August 13, 2020

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#BALLIN’ By Da Beach Basketball Camp continues its effort of engaging with its participants virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

#The organisation will host a virtual basketball camp, August 24-28, via Zoom.

#The camp is open to both boys and girls ages 5-19 and is free to all registered participants – all that is needed is reliable internet access and a basketball.

#Registration is open at BBFbasketball.com/VBC while interested persons can contact the organisation at 429-7170 for more information.

#The camp promises to feature “five days of high quality training from some of the Bahamas’ best national team, college and high school coaches.”

#Day one will be led by the University of the Bahamas Mingoes men’s basketball head coach – Bacchus Rolle; day two features Bahamas senior men’s national team head coach and Golden State Warriors assistant coach – Chris Demarco; day three will be led by Under-17 Skills Challenge assistant coach – Sanchez Moss, day four features the University of Houston Cougars Assistant Director for Player Development – Mikhal McLean, and the camp will close out on day five with U-17 Skills Challenge head coach and CSA Basketball Founder – Marvin Henfield.

#The schedule from 10:30-12:30 will include skills and drills, themed video fundamentals, mental skills training, leadership development, building basketball IQ and fundamentals in action.

#With its traditional camp cancelled for the summer, BBDB partnered with Global College Access to host the “Student Summer Success Series” – sponsored by the University of the Ozarks.

#The series included nightly Zoom sessions, featuring university presidents, athletic directors, coaches and college admissions leaders. Geared toward high school students, student-athletes, parents, coaches, guidance counsellors, and educational stakeholders, all sessions were free of charge.

#BBDB was created by Jurelle Mullings in 2010 when she saw a need to place a greater focus on the development of women’s basketball at the youth level. She is also the coordinator of the Student-Athlete Resources and Support (STARS) Programme in the Ministry of Education.

#Since 2010, the camp has featured hundreds of underserved, aspiring student athletes.

#In addition to the camp, the organisation also hosts a Recruitment Exposure Showcase to aid aspiring players in their college recruitment process.

#“Our mission is to take a personal interest in every basketball player and coach to help them become game changers on and off the court. Our vision is to build a movement of passionate basketball players by delivering excellence through the game. Our vision inspires us in our daily work. We create a diverse, collaborative, encouraging environment where teamwork and openness are the cornerstones.”

Thursday, August 13, 2020

#THE Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC) launched its new website today, aiming to keep pace with a technologically advanced world in order to better serve athletes and sport supporters.

#BOC President Romell Knowles pointed out that BahamasOlympicCommittee.org was in need of an overhaul, as the original website was more than a decade old.

#The revamped website features a modern look and enlists a series of technology tools to advance Olympism in The Bahamas.

#“We are attempting to make use of the type of media that a modern audience demands,” said Knowles.

#“So people who visit the site will notice that it is rich in graphics and other audio/visual media.

#“We need to remain progressive in advancing our messages, which will give the athletes the messages they need and the platform they deserve in order to meet their goals.

#“Finally, we are doing this to make it easier for the entire nation to follow Team Bahamas because every single person has a part to play in our national success.”

#Through an agreement with the International Olympic Committee, a feed from the Olympic Channel has a permanent home on the latest version of the BOC’s website.

#Year-round, 24 hours per day, viewers are able to tune in to the Olympic Channel through the Bahamas-based website.

#This allows audiences to keep track of events and the Olympic movement around the world in addition to following local athletes, Knowles said.He also pointed out that the new BahamasOlympicCommittee.org is a launching pad for all the BOC’s social media platforms.

#He said the BOC will place more emphasis on making use of tools such as Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and Instagram to reach the audiences who have become accustomed to gathering news and information through social media.

#Although the site is virtually brand new, featuring a large amount of new material, the executive committee of the BOC maintained one original component of BahamasOlympicCommittee.org.

#The comprehensive history of the BOC – a composition by the late Sir Arlington Butler while he served as president of the BOC – remains on the site.

#“I want to thank the team of BOC executive officers who worked diligently over a period of several months to design the website, gather its material, and forge the partnerships that brought it to reality,” Knowles said.

#“Our secretary general Derron Donaldson and his team of Clarence Rolle and Dorian Roach did an amazing job, and the site will have ongoing transformation as it will be a dynamic and evolving work.”

#Knowles said the BOC could not have produced the website without the significant and generous contributions of Team Bahamas supporter and resident of The Bahamas, Andrew White, whose business network assisted with substantial resources.

#He also acknowledged the meaningful contributions of Integrated Business Solutions and 5Oceans Partnership.

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#THE preliminary draw has been set as CONCACAF continues to reveal its restructured qualification process for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

#The first round draw, featuring 35 member federations, will be hosted August 19 in Zurich, Switzerland and streamed live on FIFA.com

#The Bahamas will be placed in “Pot Five” along with Aruba, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and Anguilla.

#Pot One includes El Salvador, Canada, Curaçao, Panama, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago. Pot Two will feature Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Nicaragua and The Dominican Republic. Pot Three features Grenada, Barbados, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Bermuda and Belize. Finally, Pot Four includes St Lucia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Montserrat, Dominica and The Cayman Islands.

#The Qatar 2022 qualification will feature three rounds vying for three and-a-half World Cup spots.

#The First Round (30 teams) will feature CONCACAF teams ranked 6-35 based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings as of July 16, 2020.

#The Bahamas is currently ranked No. 30 based on the aforementioned rankings. The draw will feature six groups of five teams in a single round robin format. Each team will play every other team in their group once, playing a total of four matches – two home and two away.

#At the end of the first round the six group winners will progress to the Second Round. The second round (six teams) will be played between the group winners from the First Round in a home-and-away in a direct elimination format.

#The three winners will progress to the Final Round. The final round (eight teams) of the qualifiers will feature the three winners from round two and teams based 1-5 on the FIFA rankings.

#The top three teams will advance to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the fourth placed team will qualify for the FIFA Intercontinental Playoff, scheduled to be played in June 2022.

#The Bahamas returned to regional competition at the senior men’s national team level last year in the CONCACAF Nations League and emerged as the top group team in League C, Group B.

#The Bahamas finished as group winners with 10 points, and earned a berth in both League B and the 2021 Gold Cup qualifiers.

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Jermaine Rolle

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#Bahamian administrator Jermaine Rolle has been appointed to a major post at an NCAA Division I programme.

#Rolle was named the Deputy Director of Athletics for the University of Wisconsin Green Bay Phoenix, with responsibilities for “compliance and student-athlete service.”

#The Phoenix compete in the Horizon League and fields six men’s teams, eight women’s teams, and one coed NCAA sanctioned sport (cross-country skiing).

#“I am thrilled to be joining the Phoenix. I’d like to thank Chancellor Mike [Alexander], AD [Charles] Guthrie and the search panel for providing me this opportunity and having the confidence that I’ll be an asset to Green Bay athletics. I was highly impressed with the search panels’ enlightenment on the culture and supportive environment at Green Bay. I look forward to hitting the ground running and serving the student-athletes, coaches and University community to the best of my abilities.”

#According to the Phoenix Athletic Department, Rolle will head all aspects of D-I and Horizon League rules and regulations. He will also work alongside the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and sports oversight in cross country, golf, nordic ski and swimming and diving.

#Rolle previously served as assistant director of athletics for compliance for the Holy Family University Tigers which featured 14 D-II teams. He then moved to the Minot State Beavers, also a D-II programme, where he served as the associate director of athletics for Compliance and Student Life.

#“Green Bay Athletics is pleased to welcome Jermaine to the Phoenix family as Deputy AD,” said Guthrie.

#“Jermaine is highly regarded as being proficient in NCAA compliance and is well-known across the country for his integrity and valour in providing an exceptional student-athlete experience.

#“While Jermaine’s focal point will be on the compliance and student service operations of the department, he will be a key member of our small but mighty leadership team and will be counted on to make many of the day-to-day decisions.”

#The Phoenix has been widely recognised for the success of their women’s basketball programme. From 2008-2013 season, the Phoenix had the third highest winning-percentage in the NCAA Division I with a 175-21 mark, trailing only Connecticut and Stanford. The Phoenix has the fifth-most wins in Division I during that same stretch.

#The Phoenix entered the 2017–18 season on a string of 40 consecutive winning seasons, with only Tennessee having a longer such streak in women’s college basketball. They have also won or tied for the Horizon League regular-season championship since 2000, the longest active streak in Division I NCAA women’s basketball. They have been to the NCAA tournament 18 times, advancing to the second round five times and to the Sweet 16 once. The men’s basketball programme reached the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

Phoenix Suns’ Deandre Ayton looks to pass against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter on Monday, August 10, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Today, four teams – Portland, Memphis, Phoenix and San Antonio – will finally decide which two clubs get spots in the play-in series to determine the No. 8 seed in the West playoffs. (Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo via AP)

Thursday, August 13, 2020

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#THE outcome of Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns’ potentially historic run at the NBA playoffs will be decided tonight on the penultimate day of the NBA’s seeding games.

#A seven-game win streak thus far has brought the Suns’ record to 33-39 (No.10), tied with the No.9 Memphis Grizzlies (33-39) and 0.5 games behind the No.8 Portland Trail Blazers (34-39).

#Ayton is averaging 15.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in the NBA restart.

#All three teams will be in action today in their final of the eight seeding games. The Suns will face the Dallas Mavericks while the Grizzlies will face the Milwaukee Bucks. Both games tip off at 4pm. The Trail Blazers will close out their schedule against the Brooklyn Nets at 9pm.

#Phoenix will need to win, but will also need some help with losses from other teams to reach the play-in game.

#A Suns loss or a Grizzlies win would eliminate Phoenix from playoff contention, because Memphis holds the tiebreaker.

#If the Suns and Grizzlies both win, it would require a Portland loss for Phoenix to get in.

#The No.8 vs No.9 play-in game is scheduled for August 15.

#If the No.8 seed wins they will advance to the playoffs and if No.9 wins, the teams will play a second game on August 16 to decide who advances to the playoffs.

#“We can finally look at it. It’s our next step. We know that we’re not totally in control of our fate but we put ourselves in a good position. Nobody would have guessed the Phoenix Suns would be in this position,” said Suns head coach Monty Williams.

#“We’re not going to change our approach. I think that would be a mistake on our part. I think our guys need to have the same focus. We’ve always tried to implement championship practices and film sessions and have a high level of focus so that we don’t have to change.”

Friday, August 14, 2020

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#BUDDY Hield concluded the Sacramento Kings’ 2019-20 season with one of his traditional streaky shooting performances and a win over an in-state rival.

#Hield finished with a game high 28 points in a 136-122 win over the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.

#He shot 10-17 from the field, including 8-14 from three-point range and added five rebounds in 27 minutes.

#The Kings fell short of the playoffs but ended their eight-game run in the Orlando “bubble” with consecutive wins and a 3-5 record overall. They finished the regular season 31-41 and missed the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season, one shy of the NBA record.

#In 72 games this season, Hield averaged 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and three assists per game. He shot 43 per cent from the field and 39 per cent from three-point range.

#A season of highs and lows for the veteran guard began with a contract dispute and featured several milestones on the court.

#In November, Hield concluded his contract negotiations with the Kings and reached the most lucrative deal ever signed by any Bahamian athlete when he agreed to a four-year, $94 million contract extension.

#Loaded with bonuses, the deal includes $86 million in base guaranteed money and the remainder based on performance based incentives.

#The first stage of incentives Hield has to reach for the $8 million dollar bonus have been described as “exceedingly reachable” (finish in the top 10 in the league in three-point percentage).

#Had the sides not reached the deal, Hield could have become a restricted free agent next summer. Hield was set to enter the final year of his rookie contract (four-year, $15.9-million) and was eligible for a rookie scale contract extension (up to $158.1 million over five years).

#Once play began, the sharpshooting guard emerged as the Kings’ leading scorer in an injury plagued season for the franchise. He made a Kings record 11 threes in a 41 point effort against the Boston Celtics on November 25 and also made nine threes in a January 27 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves when he scored 42.

#Hield made 271 three point field goals this season and moved ahead to No.3 on the Kings’ all-time three point shooting list behind Peja Stojakovic and Mitch Richmond. He became just the third player in NBA history with at least 270 threes in a season. He also has the longest active streak of consecutive games with a made three-point field goal at 66 games.

#Earlier this season, Hield shot 9-10 from beyond the arc in a win over the San Antonio Spurs and became the fastest player in NBA history to make 800 career three-point field goals. He accomplished the feat in just 296 games to surpass the mark set by Stephen Curry, who did it in 305 games.

#In his four-year career, Hield has made more three-point field goals than any other player in his first four NBA seasons with 865.

#He surpassed the previous record of 828 set by Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers.

#Hield started 44 games this season before he was moved to the bench January 24. He continued his production during the All-Star break by becoming the 2020 Mtn Dew Three Point Shootout champion.

#Hield needed a nearly perfect final round to win the title and the Grand Bahama native did just that to highlight his appearance at the league’s All-Star Weekend. He posted a final round of 27 points, and clinched the title on his final shot to defeat the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker.

Friday, August 14, 2020

#By BRENT STUBBS

#Senior Sports Reporter

#bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

#THE Bahamas Parents Association of Student Athletes is doing all it can to assist as many Bahamian student-athletes attain their goal of competing and earning a degree at various NAIA, Junior College and NCAA divisional colleges and universities in the United States.

#But with the coronavirus pandemic now in full effect, Bernard Newbold, one of the administrators for the programme, said they could see a decline in the amount of student-athletes heading off for the upcoming semester, even though they are under the Ministry of Education’s Scholarship Grants Programme.

#“I don’t know if the pandemic is affecting them as much as the assistance that they would receive from the government because that assistance has been temporarily suspended,” said Newbold, who has been working with the programme since 2005.

#“That has placed a burden on the parents, so for some of the student-athletes, they won’t be going to school this year. But the good news is that some of the schools that our athletes will be attending have agreed to use the funds that they had available for this semester and next semester and to give the student-athletes a one semester full scholarship, so when they come back in the fall of 2021, they would go back to the original agreement that they had.”

#Newbold, now in his first year as an assistant coach for sprints and hurdles at Central Arkansas, said mostly new student-athletes on the programme who were looking to begin their college experiences this month would be affected, if they were depending on the assistance from the government.

#However, he noted that those returning student-athletes that are already on the grant offered by the ministry would not have been affected as their payments would continue.

#“Overall, financially for returning students, the pandemic has not affected them, but we won’t really know the true effect until January once the season is scheduled to get underway,” he stated.

#The BPASA, an organisation started by businessman Harrison Petty in 1999, is designed to assist student-athletes who want to secure scholarships to schools in the United States.

#The scholarships obtained cover books and tuition and some have a dollar amount to help take care of the student-athletes’ school costs.

#According to Newbold, a school could provide funding up to $20,000 out of a cost of $30,000, which could be applied to whatever areas of financial commitment that the student-athlete desires. There is also the book and tuition scholarships where the student-athletes would have to pay for room and board, which include housing and their meals.

#“We have some that do give full scholarships, but not all would give the full scholarships and the ones that don’t give the full scholarships, they depend on the Ministry of Education’s Tuition Assistance Grant to help them cover the remaining balance,” Newbold said.

#There are over 150 student-athletes who have benefitted from the BPASA’s programme from 2016-2020 with a number of them expecting to graduate this year. Despite the pandemic, there were some virtual graduations held and the majority will take place in December.

#“This year we have about 15 student-athletes who have signed up for the scholarship programme,” Newbold revealed.

#“The programme is growing. Overall, it’s a successful programme. It has gone from parents having to self-fund to the Ministry of Education coming on board in 2013/14 to assist with a grant of $3,000 per year for the student-athletes to help them defray the cost.

#“Once they meet a certain GPA (grand point average), they can qualify for the National Students Assistance Programme, which is about $7,500. So that has helped the student-athletes a whole lot to be able to graduate on time and come back home to help with the progression of other student-athletes.”

#Newbold said a number of those student-athletes upon graduation have either returned home and are now working in the school system as physical education teachers or are still in the United States where they have gone on to become college head and assistant coaches where they are trying to assist more Bahamian student-athletes getting into college.

#“So we started off with about two or three coaches in the United States, who have been working with us and now it has exploded and there are a lot of coaches who are now giving our student-athletes the opportunity to compete for their respective schools,” said Newbold of former student-athletes like Donnovette Martin, Derrick Atkins, Aaron Cleare and Trevor Barry, who are now in the coaching fraternity.

#“We’re grateful to the ministry for their assistance, but it’s only been this year that they’ve had to cut the budget for the student-athletes because of the pandemic. So overall, I think from where the programme started to where it is right now, we can say that it has been very successful.”

#Southeastern Louisiana University, Purdue, Indiana Tech, Benedict College, Highland Community College, Colby Community College and Barton County Community College are some of the leading colleges and universities that have assisted the BPASA in getting the student-athletes into their programmes.

#“It’s a whole list of schools that the student-athletes from around the country have attended,” Newbold said.

#“They have been grateful to the student-athletes and we know that the student-athletes have all been able to excel as a result of the scholarships that they received.

#“We’ve had a number of champions, including Latario Collie-Minns, who was the last Bahamian to win an NCAA title, who came through the programme. He was at Iowa Western, then went on to Texas AM University,” Newbold noted.

#“We’ve also had Andre Colebrooke, Ashley Riley and Cliff Resias, who also came through the programme and were successful,” he added.

Suns’ Deandre Ayton, left, dribbles as Mavericks’ Maxi Kleber (42) defends. (AP Photos/Ashley Landis)

Friday, August 14, 2020

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns will miss out on the Western Conference “Play-In” game, despite a late run at the postseason that became a captivating storyline of the NBA restart.

#The Suns completed their improbable run at the NBA’s Orlando “bubble” as the only team to go undefeated in the seeding games at 8-0 but finished at No.10 in the conference standings.

#They concluded the seeding games with a 128-102 win over the Dallas Mavericks yesterday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

#Ayton finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. He also added three steals, two assists and one block in 26 minutes.

#At 34-39 on the season, Phoenix finished tied with the No.9 Memphis Grizzlies (34-39), who held the tiebreaker.

#The Grizzlies clinched a spot in the “Play-In” as the No.9 seed game with a 119-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday. The Portland Trail Blazers (35-39) claimed the No.8 seed with a 134-133 win over the Brooklyn Nets last night in their season finale.

#The No.8 vs No.9 play-in game scheduled for August 15. If the No.8 seed wins they will advance to the playoffs and if No.9 wins, the teams will play a second game on August 16 to decide who advances to the playoffs.

#Ayton was mic’d up during the TNT broadcast and foreshadowed what the Suns can accomplish next season.

#“With a full season with all of us. Hey NBA we’ll be back next year. We proved ourselves though, put some respect on our names.”

#In his second NBA season, Ayton averaged 18.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 55 per cent from the field in just 38 games. As a team, the Suns broke the NBA record for the highest single-season free throw percentage in league history at 83.4 per cent.

#Suns head coach Monty Williams addressed the team following their win in the finale, reiterating that the eight-game win streak was a major building block for the future.

#“It’s been an unreal ride. I want you guys to know this. This was therapeutic for me to be around a group like this. I don’t care what happens, I know what I got in this room. It has been cool for me to be with y’all to watch you guys work and battle and gain the respect of your peers the way you have on this trip,” Williams said. “We’re not the Suns of old. You’ve been through a lot. It is hard to play the way you played every single night and not get the respect you deserved. Nobody thought we would come in here, go 8-0 and beat the teams we beat, just know that this was special. Don’t let anybody take this away from you, you gained the respect of the league, now you get to build on it. You want to be the kind of team that controls your own destiny, that’s our next step.”

#Ayton has had several challenges this season, most notably when he missed time with a 25-game suspension due to violating the NBA’s substance abuse policy. He also missed seven games this season due to an injured ankle, including a withdrawal from the 2020 NBA Rising Stars game at NBA All-Star Weekend.