‘We can play at this level’: Chism

TDT | Manama                                                   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain proved that they are capable of competing at the highest level of continental basketball following their inspirational showing at the FIBA Asia Cup 2022.

This was underlined by naturalised big man and the national team’s star centre Wayne Chism, who played a key role in their stunning showing in the competition---despite losing all three of their preliminary round games but nearly upsetting Asian powerhouses China and South Korea.

“I see this tournament as great for us,” Chism said in the post-game Press conference following their tournament-concluding loss to the South Koreans on Saturday.

“This shows us now that we can play at this level.” After losing their opening fixture to Chinese-Taipei, the Bahrainis bounced back with sensational performances against the heavily favoured Chinese and South Koreans, coming only a few baskets shy of slaying the basketball giants. Chism praised his teammates for building their self-confidence after their early setback and showing a strong fighting spirit to make the Kingdom proud.

“Earlier, a lot of people saw Bahrain as a small country with small players, but we have heart. And these guys finally understood that especially after our loss against Chinese-Taipei.

“Once we figured that out, we got the confidence against China. At this level, you have to play [with heart]. If you don’t, you can have a 50 or 100-point loss. “These guys fought not to get embarrassed; they showed heart and they fought hard to make Bahrain proud. Bahrain head coach Mindaugas Lukosius echoed Chism’s sentiments.

“We are very happy to take part in this level of competition; we had a long-time break to play with the best teams in Asia, and we are very happy about these results—not about losing all the games, but because we had some chances to win against China and against Korea,” Coach Lukosius said. “I appreciate and am very proud of my team.”

The Lithuanian tactician added that the national team were missing a few key players, and once at full strength Bahrain will be better. “Not all our best players were here; a few guys are injured and for other reasons not with us, so for the next tournaments in the future, we will be stronger,” he claimed.

Chism agreed and further acknowledged the growth of the national team’s young players in the competition. “Our young guys grew today, yesterday and the day before. Now they have the experience of playing at this high level. This is a great tournament and I am glad that we were here to play it,” Chism said.