The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema – Sports Reporter
SENIOR national men’s basketball coach Ellery Pinkerton is sweating over the availability of some of his foreign-based stars in the build-up to next month’s Afro-basket Championships.
The meet is slated for August 20 to 30 in the Tunisian capital of Tunis.
Zimbabwe have been holding regular training camps, but Pinkerton stresses the need to have all his charges in for a month-long camp that begins Friday.
“While the camps have been very helpful and afforded me the opportunity to assess and screen the local-based players, I would want everyone in when we assemble for the final lap.
“With everyone in camp, I will be able to assess the foreign based stars, work on the team’s fitness and hopefully start working on the team’s chemistry,” he said.
Robert Mugabe Jnr is the only foreign-based player who has been pitching up for the camps, while the South Africa-based duo of Andrew Gonese and Stenard Mapurisa is expected this week.
Freddy Manyau Jnr has pulled out.
Vitalis Chikoko, due to his participation in last month’s Italian Serie A play-offs with club Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia, is expected to join up with the team in a Germany training camp.
Many questions hang over the fate of United States-based forward Jullian Mavunga as his handlers are still to confirm his availability for both the camp and the championships.
Pinkerton’s contingency plan is to call up a few unknown foreign-based players as cover.
“We would have loved to have everyone in the country before we begin our camp on Friday, but it looks like a few players are yet to report in. I have already done my part and trimmed a huge chunk of the local players. We have retained the same number of players (20) we had during the previous camps, but now only 12 will be local-based, while eight will be foreign-based,” he said.
Pinkerton has called the relatively unknown pair of England-based Wilson Juma and Ireland-based Hillary Netsiyanwa.
The two will join Chikoko, Mugabe Jnr, Mapurisa, Gonese, Mavunga, South Africa-based Moses Muyambo in camp, and the Zimbabwe-based group of Simbarashe Mungomezi, Nyasha Ngove, Everisto Pasimire, Eric Banda, Duncan Shenje, Kudakwashe Chimana, Tawanda and Taurai Chitsinde, Neville Chivhanganye, Brian Hore, Agrippa Masvisvi and Tatenda Maturure.
