Basketball

MONROVIA -- The President of the Liberian National Olympic Committee (LNOC), Mr. Philipbert Browne has expressed disappointment in the current leadership of the Liberia Basketball Federation (LBF) regarding the prolonged delay of the official closure of two basketball seasons.

Brown, a former President of LBF, stated that the heartrending holdup of the official closure of the league, since 2007, has the propensity to put a dent the momentum, morale and spirit of the game as it relates to the players, administrators, sponsors and spectators, as well as the international basketball body, FIBA.

The LNOC chief told Daily Observer Sports via phone on Thursday that the LNOC is intervening to resolve the non-closure saga, in the interest of the more than 500 male and female players, and the thousands of fans.

“Since the closure of the 2006-2007 LBF National Championship League, the LBF is yet to hold official closing programs for 2007-2008 and the 2008/2009 leagues, which is very saddening.

“It is regrettable to say that such inaction has the propensity [to] send the game [into] the doldrums, where the dreams, aspirations of the players will be dashed and the recreation of the sympathizers denied.

“We are therefore intervening for the sake of all of us, and we hope to revive the spirit of basketball, for the good of all of us,” Mr. Brown asserted.

NPA Pythons Coach in Dire Need of US$2,000

MONROVIA -- Matthew Seyee Gbamore, the head coach of Lone Star under-17 male basketball team, as well as the Liberia Basketball Federation (LBF) defending champions, NPA-Pythons, is appealing to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Management of the National Port Authority (NPA), the Liberia National Olympic Committee (LNOC) and basketball enthusiasts for financial assistance to enable him purchase plane ticket for his participation in a 90-day international intensive coaching course in Budapest, Hungary.

Coach Gbamore, in an interview with Daily Observer Sports over the weekend, stated that he has a deadline to depart Liberia Wednesday, September 9, for Nigeria in order to acquire his Visa for Hungary to participate in the seminar along with more than 20 African coaches.

Gbamore, in a poignant tone, said all efforts to raise the needed US$2,000 plane fare, which will enable him to attend the international coaching seminar in Hungary, are proving very difficult.

“I am appealing to the management of NPA, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, as well as the LNOC; including basketball lovers to help me with any meaningful contribution to enable me buy my tickets to attend the three months international training course.

‘Basketball Will Not Go In The Doldrums!’

MONROVIA -- The resident representative of the Friends and Supporters of Liberian Basketball in the United States of America, says his organization will not allow basketball to go down in the doldrums.

Double Champs, Cellcom-K-Delta, Sweep 13 Awards

MONROVIA -- The ever-dominant Liberian female basketball outfit, K-Delta, was on Saturday, October 3, the main focus of attention for the thousands that graced the joint two-season Liberia Basketball Federation (LBF) official closing gala held at the open-air Sports Commission on Broad Street.

LBF National League Kicks-off Friday

MONROVIA – The secretary general of the Liberia Basketball Federation (LBF), Fred Pratt, has disclosed that the long-awaited commencement of the 2010/2011 National League will take place on Friday, February 5, at the open-air Sports Commission.

Gbour Wilson’s Last Season League Begins

MONROVIA – First division triple basketball champs, NPA ‘Deadly’ Pythons, bashed Dream Team II 84-65 points, at the refurbished Sports Commission on Broad Street.

50 High School Coaches in 10-Day B'ball Clinic

MONROVIA – The Liberia Basketball Federation (LBF), in collaboration with the Inter-School Sports Association (ISSA) and the Liberia National Olympic Committee (LNOC), and with sponsorship from Olympic Solidarity, is expected to have an inaugural workshop for high school basketball coaches at the refurbished Sports Commission on Broad Street, Monrovia.

LBF Gets US$12,000 27 KVA Generator

MONROVIA – Liberia’s multi-national promotional firm, the Premier Services Group (PSG), in fulfillment of its obligations in the three-year contract with the Liberia Basketball Federation (LBF), and attested to by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, has donated a Perkins’ 27 KVA Generator, valued at about US$12,000.

30 High School Coaches Attend Int'l Basketball Clinic

Thirty basketball coaches from 30 secondary schools, which are part of the Inter-School Sports Association (ISSA) in and around Monrovia, have entered the seventh day of 10 days of intensive basketball training under international basketball expert M. Sano Seydou, a Senegalese.
The coaching course for high school basketball coaches, which began Monday, March 1, will end tomorrow, Wednesday, March 10, 2010 with the certification of the coaches.
The technical training course is being sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)-Olympic Solidarity, in collaboration with the Liberia National Olympic Committee (LNOC) and the ISSA.
According to Seydou, who is also an executive of the Federation of International Basketball (FIBA)-Africa, the coaches are being trained in the basics of basketball, which entails lay-up, catching, throwing, shooting, dribbling, bouncing, among others.
The president of ISSA and Secretary General of LNOC, Mr. Joseph Willie, thanked the high school basketball coaches for their desire to learn the game to impact Liberian kids and also the LNOC for recommending the coaching course for high school basketball coaches.
Mr. Willie also expressed his thanks and appreciation, on behalf of ISSA, to the IOC/Olympic Solidarity for the sponsorship and lastly to FIBA-Africa for bringing in Coach Seydou.

IE Fans Want New Leadership to Pay Basketball's US$8,800 Debt

Over 20 diehard Invincible Eleven & Majestic Sports Association (IE&MSA) fans, who claim they voted in Dr. Richard V. Tolbert and his team into power, are urging the leadership to pay a US$8,800 debt the basketball team owes FIBA-Africa.
The fans, who averred to love the game of basketball, are also appealing to the Tolbert leadership to galvanize support in the interest of the membership, in order to make sure that the Invincible Eleven Basketball team participate in the 2010/2011 National Basketball championship, by paying the three-year-old debt.
Reports have it that the Invincible Eleven Basketball team got indebted to FIBA-Africa in 2007, when they failed to pay the hotel bills in Ivory Coast at the time they were representing Liberia as 2006/2007 Basketball Champion in Zone III male qualifier games of FIBA.
Owing to the failure to refund the money paid by FIBA-Africa to the Ivorian hotel, as per mandate from the international basketball organization, the IE Basketball team was expelled from participating in the local league until the refund has been made.

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