Basketballers buoyed by Pan Am experience

Elton Tucker, Assistant Editor - Sport

GUADALAJARA, Mexico:

Coach Richard Polack chose to underline the positives after Jamaica lost their fourth consecutive match and finished eighth in the basketball competition at the XVI Pan American Games in Guadalajara yesterday.

Jamaica were beaten 87-41 by 2007 champions the United States, with guard Simone Jackson, who plays for Lady Panthers, having an outstanding game. She played all 40 minutes and finished with a joint game-high 19 points with American Tavelyn James, who played 29 minutes.

"I am very, very proud of these girls," Polack said after the game. "We could have quit and stuck our tails between our legs, but we kept fighting. We had improvement across the board. These girls are all based locally and have never played in an international competition before, and for them to adjust during the competition, to get better with every game, that is something to be noted."

Jamaica had their highest points total in yesterday's game after losing 83-26, 116-34 and 96-29 to Colombia, Brazil and Canada, respectively, in the first three games.

Polack, who is also the coach of the University of Technology team, said it had taken them some time to adjust to conditions here in Guadalajara, which is more than 5,000 feet above sea level.

Aggressive

"The first two, three games, we could not breathe - but our defence got stronger and the girls got more aggressive as the games went on," he added.

He had high praises for Jackson, who had asked to play the entire game.

"Simone came to me last night (Sunday) and said' 'Coach, I am going to play 40 minutes' and I said, 'Are you sure?'

"She played very, very well. I think she has been one of the most unstoppable players in the tournament. She is not usually a shooter, that's the problem, but I encouraged her, I said, 'Simone, you have to shoot, you have to take it to the basket'."

Despite the fourth loss, Polack said all the girls were upbeat in the locker room.

"All of them were very excited and I am very excited for them. They told me that if they had more experience at this level of basketball they would have been able to do a better job.

"Nobody is crying, nobody is disappointed, nobody feels bad in the locker room, everybody feels good about what they have learnt here and what they have done. They all feel like they have represented their country well and they fought 100 per cent all the way through, regardless," Polack concluded.

Sasha Dixon also had 13 points for Jamaica, who were level at 9-9 with the Americans early in the first quarter, but gradually fell behind. The Americans led 24-11 at the end of the first quarter, 52-17 at half-time and 71-32 after three quarters.